Death and the Nonbeliever
by IrisEclipsed
Summary: [AU] Neji's life is getting complicated: School is becoming chaotic, Death is on his case, and he might just be falling for his best friend. [Neji x Tenten] [Minor pairings: SasuSaku, InoShikaTem, NaruHina] [COMPLETE]
1. Alive Again

A/N: Hey! I've never written a Naruto fic before, and this is more of an experiment right now . . . I just got the idea after reading chapters of the Naruto manga online. I decided to make Neji the main character, the others will have theirs, because I love him and Tenten together. There's just something incredibly attractive about Neji . . . Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I WISH I owned Naruto & co.

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Chapter 1

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Neji POV

_The moment I reentered my body, I knew this was huge mistake. And then I remembered I needed to breathe. As medics rushed around me, my hands fisted the white linen sheet covering the lower half of my body. All I could think now was 'What the _hell_ was I thinking?' making this stupid deal. But, apparently, I wasn't thinking at all when I made a deal with Gai, a.k.a. Death. It's very uncharacteristic of me because normally I'm a very think-it-through type of guy. Maybe I was taken aback by Gai's perkiness. I mean, the guy is supposed to be _Death. _Gloomy and dark, not happy and yelling about the 'Joys of Youth!' . . ._

_. . . I'm such a pessimist._

XXXXX

Neji groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. Dammit! His head pounded, like a hundred jack hammers were beating on it, and his arms shook. _This_ had never happened before. Why was he so _weak?_ He couldn't feel his fingers and the numbness running through his arms caused them to give way. Neji, straining, pushed himself onto his back. His eyes took in the cream colored walls of his bedroom and the dark shadows cast against them from the curtains. How had he gotten here?

"Well," a voice suddenly said from the darkness, "you weren't very light." Gai appeared from a corner and gave him a blindingly, white smile. "How're you feeling Neji-kun?"

Inwardly he winced at the breezy tone and the casual way Gai talked. 'Neji-_kun_'? Not even his _family_ said his name with such familiarity. And what type of stupid question was that? 'How're you feeling Neji-kun?'? How the hell was he supposed to feel after coming back to life? Neji threw his arms across his eyes, shielding them from the overwhelming light coming from Gai's teeth. He shouldn't be so pissed off, after all it _was_ Gai who brought him back to the land of the living.

"I feel like shit." he answered truthfully.

Gai nodded emphatically. "Understandable. You've been sleeping in here for the past few days. Your family has been worried about you."

Neji gazed at him quizzically. "They can see you?"

"Of _course_ not!" he scoffed in response, as if the answer was obvious. Gai shook his head and sighed dramatically. "If _everyone_ could see me then they'd try to avoid me all the time, especially if they knew who I was."

_As if they don't already_, Neji thought. "I thought you said you brought me here."

"No," Gai waggled his finger in front of Neji's face. "I was only joking." He brushed invisible dust particles from his sleeves and smiled grandly. "Now, about our deal . . ."

Those four, small, little words filled Neji with so much dread. How was he supposed to find true love in six months? Well . . . There was always the internet, and now they had speed dating. What the hell, this would be easy. Find a girl he could reasonably tolerate, date her, then dump her once Gai lost interest in him. Perfect plan . . .

"There are rules to this: No speed dating." Neji visibly winced and Gai grinned. "No 'just picking a random girl you can tolerate and dating her' crap. And finally, _the most important rule_, it has to be a girl."

A pregnant pause filled the air and Gai's serious face gazed into Neji's passive one.

"'It has to be a girl'? Are you saying Gai," Neji replied coldly, "that you think I'm gay?"

"Of _course_ not!" Gai exclaimed, abashed. "And from now on call me Gai-_sensei_."

_Sensei?_ He had to be kidding. "I shouldn't have made this deal with you." Neji remarked, his eyes narrowed at the ceiling.

"And why not?" he asked. "You're a strapping young man, quite good looking and I'm sure many ladies would love to go out with you!" Gai raised his fist and his thumb popped up while giving Neji his signature blinding smile. "You'll do fine Neji-kun!"

"I don't believe in love." he said, deadpanned. Neji solemnly gazed around his room and his eyes landed on a picture within a silver frame. A slant of light reflected off it's surface and prevented him from seeing the faces in it, but Neji had memorized them enough to know . . .

The fire in Gai's eyes dimmed slightly and he sighed in defeat. "You're only eighteen and you act like an old man already! Most people your age would've had a few relationships, but not _Hyuuga Neji_. You should at least _try_ to win," Gai pouted. "Be more sporting. It's not fun for me if you don't try." Neji said nothing and Gai sighed once again. "I'll be checking up on you randomly, so be ready, and by the time six months are over," he smiled and winked. "I'll make a believer out of you."

XXXXX

It had been a week since Gai visited him last and Neji _really_ wish he'd stayed dead. He tied back his long black hair, but let a few strands come down to frame his pale face. The family had been extremely relieved when they were reassured he was alive and recovering from the accident. The memories of it were fuzzy, but Neji remembered the important details. He'd been walking back to the house when a crazy driver smashed his car into him. Neji touched his forehead gingerly, the bandages soft under his fingers. Now he had a constant reminder of the accident cut into him.

Neji sighed and pulled at a strand of loose hair. Since he was healed, what was he going to do?

A knock sounded at the door and Neji opened it, raising an elegant eyebrow as Hinata shuffled her feet while looking at the ground. He could tell she was nervous and did nothing to mollify her feelings. They may be cousins, but they were as different as night and day. He was confident and cold, from what people said, and Hinata was shy, awkward and warm. Hinata was more approachable than he was, and so she could easily move through different groups of people with apparent grace. Despite her being fidgety, he had to admire her.

"What is it Hinata?" he asked coolly, folding his arms across his chest.

She flinched and laced her fingers together. "H-Hiashi sent me to come get you. He says he needs to talk to you."

Neji nodded while shutting the door to his bedroom. "Let's go."

XXXXX

Hinata hesitantly knocked on the wooden door, waiting for the answering voice of her father. Neji looked calm and collected as always, and, as usual, she was a nervous wreck. How could her cousin face Hiashi so calmly? Hell, he was her _father_ but she'd never looked at him without fear and reverence. When the voice on the other side said 'Come in' Hinata pushed open the door quickly and walked in, flanked by Neji.

"Ah," Hiashi said. "Neji, you're here."

"You requested my presence?" he answered formally.

"How are you feeling? It was a terrible accident, are you well enough?"

Neji took a minute to catalog his pains, but there were few. "I'm fine."

Hiashi nodded and said, "Good. Do you think you're well enough to attend school again? I promised your father I'd take care of you and I don't want you becoming lax in your studies."

He nodded in compliance. "I understand."

"A-Are you sure Neji . . ." Hinata seemed to want to add something else to her question but she lapsed into silence.

"It's fine. Don't worry." Neji responded confidently. Not _everything_ was fine, but he'd find a girl to get Gai-_sensei_ off his back. No worries . . . Right?

XXXXX

"Hey," Chouji ate another potato chip and quickly swallowed to continue. "I heard Neji might be coming back tomorrow." He licked salt from his fingers and gazed at Shikamaru, his best friend of ten years, for conformation, but it was Ino who answered.

"Yeah." she murmured while brushing her blonde hair serenely. "It was surprising to hear he was hit by that driver. Usually, Neji's really careful and aware." Yamanaka Ino smiled at her reflection and then handed the brush to her friend Haruno Sakura. The bubble-gum pink haired girl took it and began brushing her own tresses, which were considerably shorter.

Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "_Neji was hit by a car? Hyuuga Neji?_"

"Yeah." Ino replied, slightly irritated. "Didn't you hear?"

"_No_." Naruto hadn't heard anything about this! No wonder the Hyuuga hadn't been in school for the past few weeks. Maybe _that_ was the reason why Hinata had been looking so sad in class . . . Even Sakura had commented on it a few days ago . . . _How could he have missed the signs!?_

"Figures an idiot like you wouldn't know," a stoic voice said from behind.

"_Sasuke_ . . ." Naruto snarled.

The Uchiha, who was currently leaning against a wall, opened an eye and lazily removed his headphones. "What?"

"Don't call me an idiot, asshole."

"I'll call you any name that fits, you shit head." he answered, his voice growing cold.

Naruto pushed the sleeves of his jacket up and clenched his fists. "I'm gonna kill you . . ."

"_Enough_ you two." Sakura sighed. "Honestly, stop acting like little kids. We're in _high school_ now." She frowned at the reflection of the two in the mirror, telling them she meant business. They'd been friends for a long time, the three of them, and there was a bitter rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke time wouldn't let die. After five years of being together, they still couldn't stand in the same room for more than a minute before trading vocal barbs. "Do you think we should get Neji a gift or something?"

"No," Ino said, a knowing smile upon her face. "I think Tenten said she'd do something for him." A hint of suggestion was laced on her words and Sakura also smiled, understanding the meaning behind them.

"What?" Naruto asked, slightly confused. "What are you talking about?"

Sakura turned around, narrowing her eyes at him. "Have you been blind for the last five years? Didn't you see _the signs?_" she snapped. "_Don't you get it?_"

"He doesn't." Shikamaru answered. "I think that's why he asked. Personally, I don't either." He massaged the back of his neck and glanced at Sasuke. "Do you?" The Uchiha turned away sharply and gazed at the ceiling; obviously he didn't either.

She sighed and flicked her wrist. "Forget it." Sakura thought _Sasuke_ would understand, he was very astute, but her faith in him still didn't help his very stupid male mind.

In the end he was as ignorant as the others . . .

XXXXX

Morning light streamed through the window and Neji was about to throw on a random shirt, but there was someone at his door. Deciding to make the person wait, he absently went to his window and opened it. The cold chill in the air caused his bare skin to break out in goose bumps. Another knock, this time not so gentle as the first and a little more insistent.

Neji opened the door and outside stood a slightly pissed off Tenten. His best friend. "Morning." he said while stepping out of the way so she could enter his room. He couldn't remember exactly _when_ the routine started, Neji just knew he enjoyed it. They'd been friends for almost five years and every morning Tenten would come to his house, have breakfast if they had time, and they'd walk to school together. Of course _Naruto and Kiba_ read more into their relationship, making fun of their closeness, and kept saying they were 'going out' . . . But he and Tenten weren't like that.

Tenten frowned and entered the 'Neji zone' as she affectionately called it, mainly because it was Neji's room and because his scent permeated the area. It was a mixture of detergent, some sort of cologne and . . . Air. She didn't know how to explain it, but sometimes she'd go home at night and _his_ smell would be on her clothes. She casually sat upon his unmade bed, a bad habit of his, and began bouncing up and down slightly. Neji glared at her and Tenten smiled; she knew it pissed him off.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

Neji gave her a smile, one he'd designated as the 'especially for Tenten' smile, and answered, "I'm fine. Everyone keeps asking me that and it's getting annoying."

"Yeah, well," She cast him a sideways glance as his head disappeared for a second underneath the shirt. Tenten still couldn't help but stare at her best friend's wonderfully toned body; he was _fit_ from all the physical activities he did. "We're worried about you." She quickly moved her eyes to his face once it appeared again. If Neji knew she stared at his body, and thought he was hot, he'd never let it die.

"You're worried about me?" Neji asked skeptically.

"Yeah." Tenten answered automatically. Her eyes connected with Neji's white ones, and they had an awkward moment. He turned away and went into his adjoining bathroom, presumably to brush his hair. Tenten ran her finger down a seam of Neji's blanket. They'd been having more of those 'awkward' moments lately, even before his accident occurred. Sometimes she just didn't know how to act around him anymore, whatever she wanted to say died on her lips and she found it hard to swallow. At least she could see Neji seemed to be having a similar problem.

Tenten _refused_ to believe Ino and Sakura's words, but they kept ringing in her ears:

'_You like him don't you?' Ino smirked and flicked back her blonde bangs._

_Tenten scowled at her friend. _'_Neji and I are just friends, we have been for years._'

'_Love is just a more intimate version of friendship._'

She rose and walked over to Neji's closet mirror. Tenten scrutinized her red shirt, the neckline dropped drastically but she had on a lacy white tank top underneath to cover her breasts, the black jeans that adorned her slim legs and the black sneakers that covered her feet. A white studded belt was slipped around her waist and she wondered if Neji thought she looked nice . . . Tenten shook her head vigorously and scowled at her reflection. Since when did she care so much about her appearance? Especially what _Neji_ thought?

A glint of light caught her eyes and they were drawn to the silver bracelet she wore. Tenten smiled at the slim silver and the black pearl resting in the center, remembering when Neji gave it to her for her sixteenth birthday. It was the only time he hadn't seemed completely in-control and cool, and the night was still fresh in her mind. She'd expected him to kiss her that night, he'd been so close and they were alone, but Neji kept his distance. Tenten sighed. These weren't just 'friendly' feelings . . .

"We'd better get going," Tenten whipped around and Neji stared at her expectantly, his bag already in hand.

After she got her wits back she replied softly, "Yeah."

XXXXX

"Neji," Sasuke said his name, a little subdued, and nodded in acknowledgement.

He returned it and turned around swiftly to face Naruto's pout and outstretched fist.

"I was about to punch you in the shoulder," Naruto murmured.

"I kno-" WHAM! Insert cursing here.

"Neji!" Kiba exclaimed in delight and smiled, exposing sharp canines. "You're back!"

Neji glared at the Inuzuka and rubbed his shoulder blade. "Hey, nice to see you too." he replied sarcastically, but unfortunately, the dog lover didn't catch it. Neji glanced at Tenten, who had a murderous glint in her brown eyes, and watched as the girl stalked up behind Kiba and smacked him upside the head. A screaming match ensued and Kiba cowered against Tenten's fury. The others, especially the guys, couldn't help laughing and Naruto laughed loudest of all. He and Sasuke were the only ones who just watched.

Ino frowned at Kiba and turned to Neji. "I hope he didn't hurt you."

"It's fine." he replied nonchalantly. Neji _really_ didn't feel like talking right now. It wasn't a personal thing, though Ino, and Sakura an a few occasions, tried his patience. Their perkiness grated on his nerves sometimes, and the way they were . . . Neji couldn't describe it, he only found it irritating. The only females he could really have a conversation with were Hinata (when she didn't cower from him), Temari (when she wasn't trying to get with Shikamaru), and Tenten. Neji's white eyes surveyed the area and he frowned. "Where's Lee? He's supposed to give me the work I missed . . ."

"Neji!" A green blur was coming towards him at an incredible speed and Neji side-stepped just in time to avoid being flattened by it. Lee tripped and stumbled, falling onto his back.

Neji, his blank eyes narrowed down at Lee, crossed his arms. "You're late Lee . . ." He trailed off and Neji's eyes widened a bit, though no one really noticed.

He didn't know what to say.

Lee had changed, dramatically, during the week he was out and once Neji laid eyes on him, the only thought going through his head was: _It's mini-Gai_. Indeed, Lee looked _incredibly_ like Gai-sensei now. The bowl haircut, the thick eyebrows, that _stupid_ smile plastered on his face . . . Neji inwardly cringed.

The 'Green Beast', as everyone called him, mainly because of his obsession with the color green, picked himself off the ground and dusted the dirt from the back of his pants. "Sorry Neji. I was just talking with our new teacher." Suddenly, Lee's eyes were lit up by an invisible spark and he grasped Neji's hand. "You have to come meet him!"

"Oh god." Tenten smacked the heel of her hand against her forehead. "Lee! Neji'll meet him later during class!"

Lee whipped around to face Tenten and held a clenched fist in the air. "He must come meet him now! Neji!" So called boy warily gazed at his friend. "He's the most brilliant teacher alive and his teaching methods are miraculous!"

"More like insane . . ." Tenten muttered.

"Don't talk about him like that!" Lee hissed. "Come on Neji. Your work is in the classroom."

Suddenly, Neji found himself being forcefully dragged towards the building and he calmly, masking his desperation, groped for something he could hold onto so Lee wouldn't drag him inside. But . . . Unfortunately the first thing his fingers met was the cotton of Tenten's red shirt, his fingers wrapped around it in a vice grip, and so she also found herself heading towards the building.

Tenten clawed at Neji's hand and tried twisting the material of her shirt from his incredibly strong grip. "Let . . ." She hissed at him as they passed through the double doors leading into the school. Tenten could hear their friends' laughter over Lee's long-winded speech on how much Neji missed last week. "_Go!_ Neji you ass, let _go!_" She was going to _murder_ him if the lower half of her shirt was stretched.

"_No._" he hissed back. "If I've got to go, you're coming with me." Neji, though he didn't want to admit it, was slightly afraid. If he was going down, he might as well bring Tenten along with him to share his misery.

An icy look crossed Tenten's face and Neji found himself standing still. They'd stopped and Lee was politely holding open the door to a classroom. Tenten calmly smoothed her shirt, which was slightly rumpled from his death-grip upon it, and entered the classroom with a bright smile on her face. Since she didn't seem to be getting attacked or mauled, Neji followed.

He didn't know _what_ he was expecting, perhaps he'd figured that this was going to happen all along and _that_ was the main reason why he didn't want to come. The figure turned around and Neji recognized the stupid haircut, the stupid, freakish eyebrows . . . That . . . Perky smile . . . It was a nightmare come true . . .

"Neji!" Lee exclaimed proudly. "Meet Gai-sensei! Our new math teacher!"

Kill me now_. Kill me now. _KILL ME NOW.

XXXXX

A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? Did it just plain suck? Review and tell me please!


	2. Just a Conversation

A/N: Chapter 2! Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed(17 reviews for the first chapter)! I was so excited! I didn't think this story would be that great, but you lovely reviewers have instilled confidence in me! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 2

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Neji POV

_Life _hates_ me. _

_Could this situation suck anymore than it already does? Gai's my new math teacher, what the hell happened to the old one!? He probably killed the guy off or something, he has that power . . . And what the _hell_ did he do to Lee!? It's so freaking terrible I can't even express myself in proper Japanese. When Gai said he'd be checking up on me, I didn't expect him to be teaching. At my school. 24/7. _

_And what is _wrong_ with me? This morning I couldn't say anything to Tenten after she said she was worried about me. I wanted to smack myself, but instead I turned into a coward and hid in my bathroom . . . She probably thinks I was brushing my hair or something. I don't know what's going on. The way she looked at me for a second . . . Something in me just . . . Melted. I can't believe how corny that sounds . . . _

_. . . I'm becoming a sentimental idiot._

XXXXX

Sakura crossed her legs, making her short jean skirt ride up a bit in hopes that Sasuke was watching, and frowned at the building. "Do you think they're ok?"

"He's only a teacher, not some insane killer." Ino scoffed.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at them and reached into the bag of chips that Chouji held, taking one out and popping it into his mouth. When the boy didn't protest Naruto also reached in, but the bag was viciously wrenched away and Chouji hissed, "Stop eating my food."

"You let Shikamaru have one!" Naruto protested, glaring at Chouji. "Why can't I have one!?"

"No." Chouji replied.

"Come on . . ."

"No."

"Gimme one!"

"No!"

"Let me have one!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"_Shut the hell up!_" Kiba screamed.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You're so troublesome . . ."

XXXXX

"Gai-sensei!" Tenten smiled and linked her fingers behind her back. "It's so nice to see you!"

Gai closed his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Ah, Tenten, your beauty grows everyday! You are a wonderfully youthful flower, and you shouldn't let it this wonderful period of your youth go to waste!"

Tenten continued grinning stupidly, but inside she was cringing. What the hell? Youthful flower? "Thank you Gai-sensei, I'll remember that." Like hell she would. What in the world was this guy smoking? And thanks to Neji, stupid Hyuuga Neji, she was stuck here. Tenten wanted to smack him to oblivion . . .

"And who is this youthful lad?" Gai asked suddenly, turning his attention away from Tenten to fix Neji with a mock surprised expression upon his face. "Who is this Lee?"

"Gai-sensei!" Lee stood at attention with a hand against his forehead in salute. "This is Hyuuga Neji."

Gai grinned at Neji. "I've heard many great things about you, lets have a talk."

The air filled with tension and an ominous silence.

_Gai-sensei! You're awesome!_ Lee thought happily. He couldn't have had a better teacher!

_Serves Neji right!_ Tenten thought viciously. But once Tenten got Neji to _herself_ . . . She'd totally beat the shit out of him. Neji could _sense _Tenten's intense delight, it radiated off her in waves and he wanted to knock some sense into her. Was she his friend or wasn't she?! Dammit! A _good_ friend wouldn't leave him here, alone, to face _Gai_ . . . "Come Lee," Tenten pushed Lee towards the door roughly and gave Neji a chilling smile. "We'll see you later Neji!"

When the door closed with a deafening snap, Gai smirked. "So, now that we're alone, we can get down to business . . ." He disappeared instantly and the reappeared right beside Neji, thoroughly startling the unprepared teen. "How are you doing Neji-kun?"

Once he got his wits back, he could form a coherent response. "I'm fine."

"Good, good. And the true love?"

". . ."

"Not so good then." Gai sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Aren't there any girls who interest you? I've been looking at that group of friends you supposedly hang out with and there are some nice ones . . . Sakura for instance!" He held two thumbs up and gave his signature smile. "Try her!"

"No." Neji said with finality. Hell no. Besides, the Uchiha seemed to have dibs on that girl . . . Him or Naruto, Neji couldn't discern which one. Both were idiots.

"Ino? Blondes are nice."

"Another Uchiha follower? I'd rather not . . ."

Gai frowned. "I suppose Hinata is out of the question . . . What about Tenten? She's a wonderful young girl!"

Huh, now _there_ was an idea. Tenten was intelligent, not an airhead girl who chattered constantly about boys they liked or the latest fashion . . . She was strong physically and whenever she'd gotten a hand on him she'd given him a bruise the size of a tennis ball . . . She was kind, especially whenever Hanabi wanted to play 'ninjas' . . . And, though he'd never admit it aloud, Tenten was pretty. Ok, he wasn't doing her justice, she was _beautiful_. Sometimes when they were walking through the halls together he'd sense at least a dozen pairs of male eyes roaming over her form and/or giving _him_ death glares. It made the blood in his body run cold and for _some_ reason he wanted to kill those guys for staring at her . . . He still didn't understand why . . .

"Your suggestions become more and more asinine." Neji answered coldly. Tenten was a _friend_, it would be incredibly awkward to be in a relationship with her.

A wicked smile bloomed on Gai's face. "Tenten, huh? She's a nice girl, don't you think? Smart . . ." Neji's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. ". . . Kind, I've heard she helps at the local hospital sometimes after school . . ." Gai's eyes casually took in Neji's defensive form; the boy's fists were clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. "Did I mention that she's a _gorgeous_ girl? I've heard that she's _REGULARLY ASKED OUT BY OTHER GUYS_." He made sure to raise his voice at the last part; if Neji didn't get this hint then there was no hope.

'_Regularly asked out?_' Neji thought, his mind racing. _'By other guys?_' That was great, just great. Tenten deserved a nice guy as her boyfriend, after all, she was a wonderful person. She was like a sister to him, and he loved her, in the most brotherly way possible. It was natural to want to rip off any guys' arm who tried to touch her inappropriately, or kill any other guy who tried to kiss her . . . No, he'd have to control _that_ part of his brotherly nature . . .

"Tenten's a wonderful person, any guy would be lucky to have her as his girlfriend." Neji replied casually, trying not to imply that he'd kill any other guy who _did_ become her boyfriend.

"I see," Gai murmured with interest. Poor, Neji-kun. The boy was trying _so hard_ to hide it, but _his_ interest in Tenten was blatantly obvious. The way his fists clenched, the stance of his body, and the tone of his voice all indicated he'd murder any guy who even _tried_ to court Tenten. But Neji was an idiot. Gai frowned at Neji's blank expression and smiled; the boy didn't even _know_ he was in love with his best friend. "Oh well, I'm not saying you _have_ to pick just yet, but give it some thought. You can go now Neji-kun."

XXXXX

School passed by in a blur and before long Neji found himself standing outside by the gates of the school, waiting for Tenten to come. She'd originally suggested they meet there so she could treat him to ice cream, or anything he wanted. Neji tapped his foot impatiently and raised his head as Tenten came running, her bag flapping wildly against her back.

"You're late." he said, crossing his arms.

Tenten rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, I know you don't like to be kept waiting. Come on, we can try that new café, my treat!" She grabbed his hand, ignoring the spark that suddenly shot up her arm, and tugged him along after her.

"I guess I don't have a choice,"

"You know me so well."

XXXXX

Lee's eyes watched as Tenten dragged the Hyuuga, who _wasn't_ protesting the treatment, towards wherever they were going. Sometimes he wanted to smack some sense into his hard-headed friend. It was obvious, to _everyone_, that there was something going on between them . . . Well, minus the other guys; _he_ was observant. Lee had been waiting for them to get together for a long time, but the years passed by and Tenten and Neji remained friends . . .

"How long do you think it'll take them to get a clue?" Gai asked, his voice filled with suppressed laughter.

"I'm not sure Gai-sensei, it's been almost five years . . ." Lee replied sadly.

"I'll let you in on a secret Lee,"

Lee clenched his fist and looked up at Gai. "Please tell me Gai-sensei! I can handle it!"

"That new café their going to . . . It's a place for _couples_."

XXXXX

A/N: Neji and Tenten are going to a cafe for couples . . . Think of the chaos. LOL. Anyways, please review and tell me what you think!


	3. Stunningly Stupid Suggestion

A/N: Ah, chapter 3 is up now. Thanks to all the reviewers and readers for reviewing and/or reading my story!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 3

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Neji POV

_Ok, so my talk with Gai wasn't so bad but I discovered some interesting, making me pissed off right now, information. I can't believe Tenten never told me she was REGULARLY ASKED OUT BY OTHER GUYS! Dammit! If she'd told me I could've beat the shit out of them and they never would've come around again! Next time I'll have to pay attention and give 'the look' to her admirers. But it really pisses me off._

_Why didn't she tell me anyways? Does she not trust me anymore? That would be bad. _

_Anyways, I'm being dragged along, by Tenten, to go to a new café she's heard about. Her treat. If anyone else was doing this to me, I'd probably be beating the crap out of them, but I can't do that to Tenten. We're best friends. Actually, I like the fact that she's holding my hand . . ._

_. . . It's really nice._

XXXXX

Tenten looked down at the small scrap of paper in her hand, then at the shops along the sidewalk. In truth it was only a distraction from the fact that she'd absently linked her hand through Neji's and that the physical contact was making her heart beat erratically. Yeah, not a _normal_ reaction of a person who's holding the hand of her best friend. Ok, maybe there was a special rule pertaining to a girl who's best friend was a guy but still . . . Tenten had to wonder if there was something weird going on with her body lately.

Originally, she hadn't thought about treating Neji at the café, she hadn't even _heard_ of the place till she entered Gai-sensei's classroom and he gave her the idea.

"_Tenten, I heard from Lee that Neji was recently in an accident._" _Gai smiled sadly and his eyes appeared glassy and overly shiny._

"_He was, but he's better now Gai-sensei._" _she answered._

"_Why don't you treat him to something nice? There's a new café, only a few blocks from here, who, I heard, serves the best cake and sweets around. Here,_" _He reached into his desk and pulled out a slip of paper to write something down. _"_Here's the address. I think Neji-kun might like to have some time to catch up with his best friend._"

_Tenten took the paper and hid the suspicion in her eyes. _"_Thanks Gai-sensei, that's really . . . Thoughtful of you._"

And now here she was, dragging Neji and herself to a café.

"Where, exactly, are we going?" Neji asked.

Tenten groped for a viable answer, but honestly, _she_ didn't even know. _This was a huge mistake . . ._ "Somewhere." she replied evasively. "I want it to be a surprise."

He squeezed her hand, hard, and pulled her to a stop beside him. "Tenten," he said darkly, "where are we going?"

"It's this place I heard about during school, don't worry." Tenten began walking again and he followed behind solemnly. They passed more shops, and took a turn to the left, then the right. More walking and then she stopped, looked at the paper, looked back at the building, then looked back at the paper to confirm her fears.

The building was _pink_. Hot pink, almost, one could say. She could see through the giant glass window that inside there was a lot more pink, and ribbon, and _flowers_. _Oh god, Gai-sensei! What type of place is this!?_ She wanted to scream and slam her head against a brick wall, but Neji might think she'd gone crazy. _Probably already does since you took him to a place like this. _

Tenten licked her lips nervously and gave Neji a forced smile. "Um, do you want to go in?"

Neji glared at the café with contempt; he hated the place on sight. It was _pink_ for crying out loud! "Is this a joke?" he asked, deadpanned.

"I heard from . . . Someone . . . That this place is . . . Good?" She winced at his expression. "We don't have to go in if you don't want to."

"Who told you about this place?" _Oh please don't let it be _him . . .

"Ga-" Tenten stopped herself and quickly changed the direction of her words. "No one important."

"Hn." Neji grabbed her hand and pushed open the door of the café, dragging poor Tenten inside.

In an instant bright pink confetti met them and a short blonde man.

"You're the 100th couple to walk into our café, un! You guys get a special table! I'm Deidara, un! Welcome to Café Aka Tsuki; _the most wonderful place for young couples_!"

_Young . . . Couples . . . _Neji could imagine a hundred ways to slice and dice the guy who put the idea of taking him to _this_ café in Tenten's head, and all seemed very appealing. _Dammit Gai, I'm going to kill you . . ._

XXXXX

Sasuke put his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and glanced at Sakura, who was being unusually quiet. It made him nervous. It was typical of Sakura to babble and act, like, well, a general _mess_ whenever she was near him, and this uncharacteristic silence and _calm_ unnerved him. A lot. Although he'd never tell anyone, he _liked_ her talkative attitude and that he made her nervous; made it obvious that she felt _something_ for him.

He just didn't like that she made _him_ nervous, and then he didn't feel . . . Right. Sasuke liked being in control; it was a large part of his personality.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura smiled at him and Sasuke was quite taken with it. "Do you want to go into that new café across the street?" She pointed in the general direction and he looked.

_Hell no, _was what he _wanted _to say, but instead he said this: "Hn." The 'Hn' translated into: _I'd rather die than enter that place._

She grabbed his shirt and began tugging him across the street. "Let's just take a look," she said reasonably, ignoring the 'look' he was currently giving _her_. "_Looking_ won't kill you, Sasuke-kun."

_It might as well, _Sasuke thought sourly, _the damn place is pink_ . . . Before he realized it, they were across the street and Sakura was staring at a poster in the window, reading it. Sasuke cast a glance, uninterested, until he read the name of the café. He backtracked. Why did the name stick out so much in his mind? _Aka Tsuki . . . Aka Tsuki . . ._

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," Sakura exclaimed in surprise, pointing at someone inside the café. "That guy over there looks like you . . ."

Sasuke looked, but he wasn't entirely prepared for what he saw.

Inwardly, his jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out of his head, but in real life his eyes only widened slightly and all he could do was stare. A man, nineteen or twenty, was inside the café wearing a typical outfit of a waiter: black pants, black vest, white shirt and a pink apron with ruffles and a sparkly bow in the center. The man's black hair was tied back in a low ponytail and the girls were ogling him like mad.

When he turned around Sasuke's suspicions were confirmed: _ITACHI!_

WHAT THE HELL WAS HIS OLDER BROTHER DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!?

Sasuke vaguely remembered Itachi mention, he couldn't recall when but it was before he had gotten his own apartment separate from Itachi, that he was getting a job with his 'buddies'; a loosely used term since the 'buddies' feared Itachi more than they liked him. Was _this_ what his brother was talking about? _Hn . . . This is an interesting situation . . ._ And then he did what any other, wonderful, caring sibling would do (Hell, he was _not _wonderful nor did he particularly care about Itachi), Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand, causing the girl to blush, and walked into the café.

A man with blonde hair, wearing a similar outfit to Itachi's came and greeted them. "Welcome! Table for two, un? My na-" The blonde suddenly looked at Sasuke's face critically and then broke out into a wide grin. "_Itachi!_ Hey! Get over here!"

"What?" Itachi replied irritably, his red eyes narrowed at Deidara, making his way over slow as a snail.

"You take this couple, un? I've already got too many."

Itachi's gaze slid over Sakura but it locked on Sasuke's smirking face. Instantly the feelings of animosity and hate, and somewhat embarrassment, welled up and Itachi wanted to grind Sasuke's head into the ground for coming here. _Damn him . . . And damn Deidara . . ._

"Welcome to Café Aka Tsuki." he said in a monotone voice. "I am Itachi and I'll be your waiter."

Sasuke's smirk widened and he said, "It's nice to see you again," Sakura's brows were furrowed in confusion; she'd never heard Sasuke look so . . . Happy? Evil? "_Nii-san._"

_HE'S SASUKE-KUN'S BROTHER!?_ Her thoughts were racing through her head and Sakura kept whipping her head between the two. No . . . No, Sasuke would've told her if he had a brother . . .

"I suppose," Itachi turned his back. He didn't have to see the reaction his next words would produce in Sasuke; he'd seen it a hundred times. "_Otoutou._"

(A/N: I think it means 'little brother', but I don't know how to spell it! Itachi called Sasuke that a lot in the anime so I decided to use it.)

XXXXX

"I'm sorry Neji," Tenten winced as they heard 'sucking' noises coming from the booth behind them. "I didn't know this place . . . I-"

Neji held up a hand and silenced her. "It's fine Tenten. Did Gai put you up to this?" She grinned at him, it was fake obviously, and it confirmed his suspicions. Why the hell was Tenten taking advice from _him?_ _Stupid_ advice at that. Tenten was smarter than that, that's why he lo- Neji stopped that thought from finishing in his mind. "You didn't need to do this. We could've just gone back to my house and watched a movie or something."

"I heard this place was good, and besides I thought we should try something new." Tenten looked up as their waiter, Deidara, put their drink down; drink as in singular. "Didn't we order _drinks?_"

Deidara sighed and shook his head sadly. _These young couples are less and less romantic . . ._ "This is a _couples_ café, so we try to instigate a sense of _romance_, un. The drinks we serve are large so the couples can 'drink together'." He could see that the concept was lost on the customers before him and Deidara tried a different tact. "It's art! _Art!_ A single, fleeting moment of togetherness and love by the joining of your straws in that drink! It's beautiful, un! You'll gaze at each other over the cup rim and lean in close an-"

"We get it." Neji said frostily. "Thank you."

"Enjoy! Un!" Deidara skipped off to help another table.

Tenten was staring dubiously at the giant cup sitting in the middle of their table, two pink straws and a tropical umbrella sticking out of it. "This place screams of 'commercialized love'," she said to Neji. Tenten stared at his stoic face and broke out into a smile. "Imagine what it's like on Valentine's and White Day."

_Age 13_

'_Neji, why'd you call me out here now?' Tenten rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared at her best friend. He was standing there, awkwardly for some odd reason, and digging the toe of his shoe into the dirt. Neji wouldn't look at her and he held his hands behind his back. It was Valentine's Day, but at one in the morning. She frowned at him and placed a hand on her hip; Neji always had the worst timing, who wanted to talk at the crack of dawn anyways? 'If you're not going to say, then I'm going back to bed.'_

_Tenten yawned and turned on her heel, but Neji's hand whipped out and grasped her wrist._

'_Wait.' he said finally. 'I want to give you something.' _

_Slowly he brought his hand out from behind his back. Neji held 'it' up and Tenten's eyes widened in surprise; in his hand was a single red rose . . ._

"Probably." Neji replied absently. "Don't you want to try it?" he asked, gesturing to the drink.

She leaned in and sucked some of the crimson liquid through the straw. "It's really sweet!" Tenten exclaimed.

He allowed a small smile to tug at his lips and sipped some of the drink. She was right, it _was_ sweet. Incredibly sugary and there was even crystallized sugar along the edge of the cup. It's entire surface was covered in condensation and Neji licked some of the sugar from the rim. "It's alright, though I prefer drinks that are . . . Less sweet."

"Neji," she said mockingly, "you sound so _refined_."

"I _am_." he replied seriously, making Tenten burst out into a fit of laughter. Neji didn't understand her sense of humor sometimes; he was being serious! "What's so funny?"

Tenten grinned and waved it off. "Never mind."

"Hn."

She studied Neji's expression. It was calm and carefully guarded, probably so she couldn't see how much she'd thrown him off balance. _He's so serious_, Tenten thought.

"Don't be like that," she murmured, sighing into her straw.

"Like what," he answered darkly.

She rolled her eyes skyward. "Like _this_. You're sulking."

"I _don't_ sulk." he replied scathingly. He was _Hyuuga Neji_, and Hyuuga Neji _never_ sulked, especially in front of his best friend. "Your 'humorous' side just caught me off guard."

"Uh huh," Tenten murmured. "So, what did Gai-sensei talk to you about?" She was extremely interested in what Gai had to say. Whenever he talked to her he constantly called her a 'beautiful youthful flower' and other such names. _I wonder what he called Neji . . ._

"Why should I tell you?" Neji asked coldly, the memory of her _ditching_ him was still fresh in his mind. "_You_ were the one who ditched _me_. You left me in there, alone, to face _that_."

"I'm sorry!" she said, adding to her voice remorse she didn't feel. "I was mad that you stretched my shirt!"

"Hn." He turned away and looked at the rest of the people inside the café. Tenten knew it was childish, but she did it anyway. She climbed underneath the table, from her side of the booth to his and sat down beside him. Tenten was next to him, incredibly close in fact, and gave him her best pout, ignoring her rapidly beating heart at their closeness. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I'm pouting so you'll forgive me." she replied honestly. "Ino does it all the time, isn't it working?"

"No." Neji answered flatly. But it was having a _major_ affect on his heart rate and the temperature of his body; his skin, though it didn't show, was burning. Plus the fact that she was so close to him was distracting, especially her chest. The breasts were, just, _there_. And Neji couldn't help himself, being the hormonal teenager he was, and cast a quick assessing, and approving, glance down her shirt._ They're . . . Nice . . . Dammit! Stop those thoughts! Stop them right now!_ "Stop doing that," he admonished. "You look like an idiot."

Tenten sighed deeply. "I try so hard and nothing ever works. _Please_ tell me."

"Ok, fine."

She grinned at him and mentally squealed at her victory. Tenten scooted away from him a little and her heart rate began slowing to normal. Being that close to Hyuuga Neji was bad for her heart, and her temperature; Tenten was sure there was a slight blush across her cheeks. She'd never tell Neji, but she noticed that at one point he'd been looking down her shirt. It both thrilled her and annoyed her; thrill because he seemed to be giving her an approving glance, annoyance because he was _looking down her shirt_.

"Alright, spill." she said, staring at him intently.

"Gai talked about," Here was where the problem began. He couldn't very well tell Tenten he was brought back to life by Gai and they made a deal that required _him_ to find a true love and Gai was asking how he was doing in that area. The answer was, of course, not very good. "What I missed, that sort of thing." Tenten would think he was a crazy person. "He said some interesting things, Gai's a really observant teacher . . ."

"Uh huh." Tenten replied, slightly confused. "Observant?"

"Yeah." Neji frowned at her. "Why didn't you tell me you're being asked out regularly by other guys?" He grasped her hand, which was resting on her thigh, and turned the full force of those piercing white eyes onto her chocolate brown ones. Neji ignored the fact that he was currently _touching_ her and asked, "Why are you keeping secrets from me?"

She winced and lowered her gaze, but her head was promptly forced up by Neji's hand and Tenten found herself, again, looking into his gorgeous eyes. _Dammit!_ "I didn't think it was that big a deal! I mean, they're just _guys_. I turned them all down anyways-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice glacial.

"Because I didn't want you to react this way!" she exclaimed, exasperated. He was making such a big deal out of nothing! "You're like a brother to me and I didn't want you to worry." Tenten's hand twitched involuntarily and Neji slid his hand off her's. Instantly the warmth left and Tenten wished he would put it back, it almost felt like she _lost_ something. She knew Neji wasn't just a 'brother' anymore, the other guys in the group were brothers, but right now she didn't know _where_ Neji was on her 'map' of friends. He wasn't even _on_ there; Neji was on a whole different map of his own.

He sat silent, digesting the reason for her untruthfulness.

"Are you mad at me?" Tenten asked tentatively, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He wasn't looking at her.

". . . It's fine." He didn't know what else to say. Neji also didn't understand the sharp pain in his chest when he heard her say 'brother'.

XXXXX

Once they were seated Sakura glared at Sasuke.

"You never said you had a brother."

"We live in separate apartments." he answered coolly. "We barely see each other and there's some . . . Animosity . . . Between us."

"Sasuke-kun, you're not being entirely truthful." she said accusingly.

Sasuke grimaced inwardly. Was he that easy to read now? "Drop it Sakura."

Itachi waited patiently at the side of their table. He wanted to kill Sasuke, and his friend for that matter because they were making him wait, but if he did he would be fired and incarcerated. Besides, working in the café made good money. "Otoutou, what do you and your little girlfriend want to drink?"

"Stop calling me that," Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth. "And we aren't 'together'." _At least not yet . . ._ Where had _that_ come from? His mind was being stupid again.

The older Uchiha dropped two menus onto their table and asked again, "What do you want, _Sasuke-kun_?"

"_Nii-san_," Sasuke snarled, extremely pissed off, "don't call me that . . ."

"Is your girlfriend the only one allowed to call you 'Sasuke-kun'?" he asked, deadpanned. Itachi watched as his little brother turned a light shade of pink and the girl across from him, a fiery red. _Ah, Otoutou's got himself a girl now . . ._ "I'll come back in a few minutes," Itachi turned around and began walking off, then added, "and don't make me wait."

XXXXX

A/N: LOL, imagine the Akatsuki working in a real cafe. Man, it'd be so hilarious . . . Anyways, if you liked it please review!


	4. Clueless

A/N: CHAPTER 4! Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews you've left me. I love them to death and they inspire me a lot.

hunterchan: I double checked myself by watching episode 129 of Naruto. Sasuke calls Itachi nii-san, but I'm glad you mentioned that he calls him Aniki. I should've made positive the first time, and now I am thanks to you. My fic is crack-ish, isn't it? LOL.

animelover21065: I know you can't read this till after Easter (because you gave up internet for Lent) but I've dedicated this chapter to you.

And for others who've been wondering, no need to worry. This is DEFINITELY a fic centered around Neji x Tenten. I'm just adding other couples because it makes the story more interesting.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

XXXXX

Chapter 4

XXXXX

Neji POV

_That café was embarrassing to say the least. I don't think I've felt that awkward in my entire life . . . But it resulted in some pleasant, or unpleasant depending on how I look at it, situations? I'm actually a bit ashamed that I looked down Tenten's shirt. I couldn't help myself. I know I should be stronger, I should resist, but I'm weak and easily succumbed to it. Damn! She's my friend! I need to respect her more! And then she said she cared about me like a brother, and explained why she didn't want me to know about the guys. I understand why she did it, and I accept it, but something's still bothering me . . ._

_. . . Damn these chaotic hormones!_

_At least, I think that's the problem . . . Thank god we're now out of that hell hole._

XXXXX

Neji inserted the key into the lock and turned, satisfied when he heard the click of the gears inside. He turned the knob and pushed the door, walking in with Tenten right behind him. Hiashi wasn't home at the moment, his uncle had told him he'd be in late due to a business meeting, Hanabi was at soccer practice and the servants had the day off. Neji was _not_ prepared to find his adorable, he'd never say it out loud, younger cousin Hinata at home, alone none the less, with Uzumaki Naruto.

Hinata was alone with a _guy_.

With no one to protect her should said guy make unwanted advances.

Neji's overprotective brother/cousin radar was going off inside his head and he reined in his natural instincts to pulverize Naruto.

"What," he bit out, clenching his teeth, "are you doing here Naruto?"

The blonde's head shot up, surprised, and he grinned. "Neji! Didn't know you'd be home so early. I heard you and Tenten went on a date!" Naruto raised his eye brows suggestively and Neji blanched in disgust at Naruto's implications.

"We weren't on a date," The male Hyuuga growled with finality, indicating it would be wise to drop the subject. Neji then nailed Naruto with a glare and asked, "And what were _you two_ doing before Tenten and I came?"

Hinata was sweating, figuratively and perhaps literally as the back of her neck was a little damp, and the look on Neji's face was hostile. "N-Neji . . . Um . . . I was g-going to help N-Naruto-kun s-study for the math test . . . Tomorrow . . ." Her voice wavered constantly and she blushed in embarrassment.

Neji frowned. "_I'm_ better at math than you are Hinata, _I'll_ h-"

"_No!_" Tenten interjected suddenly. She grabbed the back of Neji's shirt and whipped him around to face her so his back was to Hinata and Naruto. "_You_ said _you_ would help _me_ with _my _. . . Homework! Remember, Neji?" While Neji was facing _her_, Tenten made fast hand motions towards Hinata, indicating that she should take Naruto somewhere else. Hinata understood, cast Tenten a grateful glance then asked Naruto to come with her. He gazed at her with some confusion but shrugged and followed without qualm.

"You never asked me that," Neji said suspiciously, his eyes narrowing as pieces fell into place slowly inside his head.

"Of course I did!" she answered immediately, her voice serious and impatient. "I said I had problems with . . . That thing . . ."

Neji frowned. "You never have trouble w-" His mind worked it all out a little too late. He turned around swiftly but Naruto and Hinata were gone, gone, gone. Neji's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, then he turned around to face Tenten, a scowl upon his face. "You did that on purpose!" he hissed angrily.

Tenten smiled at him apologetically. "I had to give Hinata a chance,"

"Why the _hell_ would you do that?" he demanded, extremely pissed off at the moment.

"You're always so scary and overbearing when you're worried about someone," Tenten murmured dryly, hiding the smile on her face as Neji's cheeks glowed faintly pink. "And Hinata would _never_ oppose you, so I _had_ to help her."

"Hn."

"Neji," she said, slightly exasperated, "come on. Don't be mad."

"Hn."

"Lets study together."

"Hn."

"I promise I won't ever do it again." she murmured solemnly.

"You don't mean it." he stated matter-of-factly.

"I did it for Hinata."

"Hn."

XXXXX

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried in frustration. "I don't understand this one!"

"Um . . . Here, let me l-look at it." She braced herself on the low desk upon the floor and gazed at the problem. _It's . . . Pretty simple . . . You square the denominator and multiply by the monomial on the other side of the problem . . ._ Mentally, Hinata rechecked her answer. Once she was satisfied she'd gotten it right she moved to explain it to Naruto, but during her time of thought her hands hand become slippery and Hinata lost her hold, falling.

ON TOP OF NARUTO.

Hinata blushed profusely and random scenarios sped through her mind. Naruto hugging and kissing her . . . Naruto hugging, kissing, then declaring undying love to her . . . The blush upon her pale face intensified. She'd read too many romance novels. Being this close to the guy she liked was playing havoc with the rhythm of her heart and Hinata breathed in and out slowly in hopes that it would slow.

Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't think at all. His body had stiffened and his mind had gone blank when Hinata landed on him. Thanks to their _very_ close positions, Hinata's breasts were pressed against his arm. "H-Hinata-chan," Naruto said, stuttering badly, "a-are y-you . . . Al-alright?" _She's really warm . . . And her hair smells nice . . ._

_Oh god this is so embarrassing!_ Hinata wanted to scream, but calmly got up off of Naruto instead. She hid her eyes with her bangs, but through them she could see his face was incredibly red. Hinata bit her bottom lip to prevent a smile from forming, he looked so cute, and instead murmured quietly, "T-thank you . . . Naruto-kun . . . I-I didn't mean to . . . To fall on y-you . . ."

He smiled, the crooked smile that she loved, and brushed it off. "It's ok Hinata-chan."

Of course Naruto didn't know that.

XXXXX

Tenten watched Neji's back as he focused intently on the homework he'd missed and was currently doing. The sound of a pen moving on paper was the only noise in the room and Tenten sighed. She leaned back against the back board of his bed and propped the book on her stomach. It was so boring and she found Kakashi-sensei's Japanese class tedious. She already knew perfect Japanese, why did she need to take a class for it? And now they had a reading assignment and the book they were supposed to read . . .

"Tenten,"

She instantly became alert and turned towards Neji. "Yes?"

He frowned at his paper for a moment, then turned to face her. Neji's face was guarded and his eyes roamed over Tenten's face critically. "Tell me something," he said while getting up. Neji made his way to the bed and sat down. She marked her page and closed her book, gazing at him with all of her attention. "You have to promise you'll tell me," he said firmly, "no lies or evasive words."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "I promise."

Neji was momentarily stunned by her smile, but quickly regained his wits and somber attitude. "What did you mean by 'I did it for Hinata'?" he asked. "What was that?"

Instantly Tenten regretted promising so suddenly. Her entire body stiffened noticeably and Neji's eyes narrowed as she clasped her hands together tightly. _Dammit! I'm so stupid! I should've heard his question first and then promised!_ But she was feeling guilty. She'd ditched him that morning, betrayed his trust by not telling him about the many guys asking her out, and she'd purposely distracted him so Hinata and Naruto could run to her room to 'study'. Inwardly she cracked a smile. Hinata was a very proper girl. She'd never do something like _that_ with Naruto till they were _officially_ going out.

"Ask me something else," Tenten replied desperately, "anything else."

_Hm . . . She's trying to avoid it . . ._ Neji closed his eyes and shook his head. He had to understand why Tenten did as she did because her actions confused the hell out of him nowadays. He didn't know whether to be angry, annoyed, happy, sad . . . Neji didn't know how to react anymore. He took in her expression: eyes pleading, brows furrowed, hands clasped. She looked like a person asking clemency before her death.

"No. You promised."

Tenten grimaced and lowered her gaze.

Neji grasped her shoulders and said, his voice severe, "Tell me."

". . . Hinata likes Naruto . . ." she mumbled quietly, so quietly in fact that Neji was sure he'd heard wrong.

"What?"

"Hinata likes Naruto." Tenten lifted her gaze and stared into his blank expression. "She has liked him for a long time and I was giving her a chance to spend some time alone with him."

"_You did that so they'd have time alone together!?_" he asked, furious. Neji shook her a little and Tenten gave him a forced smile. "Hinata's alone with a guy! What if he makes a move on her?" He let her go and pushed himself off the bed. "I'm going to _kill_ Naruto." Neji glared at the floor for a second. Naruto was in his house . . . "_Right now_."

Neji was halfway to the door before she could blink. "No!" Tenten scrambled off the bed and grabbed Neji's waist, hugging him from the back. "You can't! Hinata will know I told you! And then she'll be mad at me!" She closed her eyes tightened her grip on him. "Hinata can take care of herself. I know you worry about her a lot, but she really likes Naruto. Just let it go . . ." Neji turned his head slightly, his ivory eyes cold, and Tenten looked up into his face, pleading. "Just this once."

"Why didn't _I_ know about this sooner?"

Tenten swallowed and said thickly, "You never asked."

He frowned down at her. "Does anyone else know?"

"Only Sakura, Ino and me . . ." She thought for a moment. "Maybe Lee."

"_Lee?_" Neji clenched his teeth in anger. How come _Lee_ knew about something like this when _he_ didn't? "Why the hell did you tell Lee?"

She scoffed in indignation. "None of us _told_ him anything! It's not my fault _he's_ more observant than _you_ are."

Neji looked down at Tenten's arms encircling his waist and put his own hands on her's. It was nice having Tenten pressed against his back. And she was hugging him. Her body was warm and her breath ruffled the hair against his neck. "You're saying," he said slowly, "that I'm not observant?"

"I suppose you're adequate," she murmured, giving him some credit. "But pretty terrible when it comes to noticing feelings." Her heart beat quickly beneath her rib cage and Tenten hid her face in the back of his shirt so he wouldn't see how _red_ it was. _God he has a nice body . . ._ Why couldn't her best friend be a little _less_ hot and more . . . Normal-ish? "Now what?"

"What do you mean?" Neji asked. Absently he traced circles on her arm, unaware that it was causing her to shiver.

"Well, I told you _why_ I did it, so what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to," _kill Uzumaki Naruto once I get my hands on him tomorrow before school._ "Keep it to myself for a while. You said it was a secret," he said coolly, keeping his voice monotone.

She hugged him tighter and a smile bloomed on her face. "Neji, thank you!"

"Hn."

"I'm serious Neji. I owe you."

_How much?_ he wondered. "Does Naruto know that Hinata likes him?"

Tenten smirked. "If _you_ didn't notice, what makes you think Naruto did? He's denser than you are."

Neji smiled appreciatively. At least there was someone else dumber, and less observant, than him.

XXXXX

"Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass over here!" Ino shrieked. "Help me with this damn thing!" Her muscles strained as she tried carrying her back pack. It weighed a ton thanks to all the books she'd brought home to study for their test tomorrow. _Dammit . . . Fingers . . . Slipping . . .!_

Said boy rolled his eyes skyward and shuffled slowly towards the raging seriously pissed off girl, wary. "This is troublesome . . ."

XXXXX

A/N: I added a little Shikamaru and Ino at the very end, but it's only a slice. Huh, Neji seems a bit OOC because of the way he's suddenly caring about Hinata . . . So, like always, please review!


	5. Spanish Inquisition

A/N: Chapter 5! Yay! I've been updating once a week and hopefully this lovely trend will continue throughout the entire story. Thanks to all you wonderful reviewers and readers out there! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Gaara and Neji, but sadly I don't. I don't own Naruto either.

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Chapter 5

XXXXX

Neji POV

_Hinata likes Naruto? She likes that idiot? Granted Naruto's an ok guy . . . But still . . . She could do much better. Uchiha is out of the question, Kiba, eh, Shino, eh, Lee? NO. Definitely not. I need to stop thinking about this. I wonder how Lee caught on so quickly. I should ask him how he notices these things._

_Tenten hugged me two days ago, and I liked it. A lot. That surprises me. Normally I don't like for anyone to touch me, but now I really enjoy when Tenten hugs me or touches my hand. It's so weird. I find myself wondering if I should be equally familiar. _

_She'd probably think I'd lost my mind. _

XXXXX

"What's your biggest fear?" she asked. In response, Neji stared at her blankly. Tenten rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. You've _got_ to have a fear."

He enunciated and spoke slowly, as if she was stupid, "I thought we went over this last time we played: _I'm not afraid of anything_."

Tenten crossed her arms and kicked at a stone on the sidewalk. "You're lying." she said stubbornly. "This is a game of _truth_. The point is to be _truthful_."

He glared at her, then looked forward as the sound of loud voices and laughter reached his ears; the school building was in sight. "I am." he replied, lifting the hair on his neck in hopes for a light breezy. Today it was hot for some reason and the weather irked him. Only two days ago it had been nice and cool, ideal temperature and clear skies, but now it was hot and slightly humid. "I don't know when that little fact will get through that head of yours," he murmured absently, "but it's true."

She grabbed his shirt and frowned at his calm expression, her own irritated. "Everyone has a fear," Tenten hissed. "So that means you do too!"

"If it makes you feel better, you're welcome to find it."

Tenten let him go and smiled wickedly. "I will, Neji. You just wait."

"I'm ecstatic," he replied sarcastically.

She gasped dramatically and covered her mouth with her hand. "H-Hyuuga Neji just acted like a smart ass! He was being sarcastic with me!" Tenten began wildly looking up at the sky. "The world's ending . . ."

"Hn. Enough of your stupid humor."

XXXXX

Neji glanced around the classroom, his expression bored, and sighed. Across the room Naruto was talking to, probably annoying, Sasuke. The dark haired boy was trying his best to ignore the blonde and pay attention to Kakashi-sensei's soporific voice. Neji too was trying to pay attention, but sleep was calling and Kakashi's voice did little to keep it at bay. He felt his eyes droop and was about to close his eyes when a paper ball came flying at his head, hitting him right in between his eyes. It thoroughly startled him and Neji's senses became alert. He looked to his left, where Tenten was sitting, and saw her guilty expression.

He unfolded the crinkled note and read.

_Neji, I'm bored. _What the hell was he supposed to do about it? _I'm going to ask you some questions and consider them part of our game. They're about your fear._

_Joy_, he thought. Neji scanned her writing.

1. Are you afraid of the dark?

2. Do you have arachnophobia?

3. Are you afraid of clowns?

4. Are you afraid of loud noises?

5. Are you afraid of sharp objects?

He looked at her again, trying to determine if this was a joke or not, but Tenten's expression was serious and solemn. _Hn . . . _Neji quickly wrote down his answers and passed the note back once Kakashi had turned to face the board.

Tenten opened it quickly and read his response.

1. Are you afraid of the dark?

_What do you think?_

2. Do you have arachnophobia?

_I kill spiders for Hinata._

3. Are you afraid of clowns?

_Stupid question._

4. Are you afraid of loud noises?

_We hang out with Ino, Sakura and Lee._

5. Are you afraid of sharp objects?

_I'm not even going to answer this one._

She frowned and looked at Neji skeptically. Ok, so the third question _was_ stupid, but the other four were reasonable fears. _Dammit Neji!_ _You and your smart ass replies . . ._

"Tenten,"

Tenten's back slammed into her chair and she held in a scream; she'd snapped out of her angry revere to find Kakashi's face right in front of her's. _How the hell did he do that!?_ She quickly passed her hand over the note and hid it from his eye. _He's like a ninja from those stories Neji and I used to read . . ._ "Kakashi-sensei?"

He frowned at her guilty expression and sighed deeply. "You looked pretty angry, is something wrong?"

"N-nothing, Kakashi-sensei. I was just thinking really hard."

"Huh," Kakashi replied, unconvinced, but he let it pass. "And how far have you guys gotten through the reading I assigned?" Silence greeted him. "This uncharacteristic quiet would lead someone to believe you find the reading _boring_." he commented dryly. _You could hear a pin drop_ . . . Alright, if they wanted to act this way, he'd play their game. "What's wrong with it?"

Naruto was about to raise his hand to answer but Sasuke turned around a viciously slammed his hand down on top of Naruto's.

"Don't even start," Sasuke hissed, his voice razor sharp.

"Why not?" The blonde asked heatedly. "Kakashi-sensei _asked_ us what's wrong. It'd make sense for one of us to answer."

Sasuke could've smacked him for his blatant stupidity. Why, oh _why_, was his best friend so _stupid?_ Couldn't Naruto see that this was a devious ploy by Kakashi to make the simple question into a 'discussion', then, miraculously, it would turn into a lecture about how _good_ and _wonderful_ Icha Icha Tactics was? The Uchiha slammed his hand down on Naruto's again for good measure, watching as his best friend snarled, retracted, and massaged his sore hand.

Sasuke could see Kakashi staring at them from the corner of his eye and inwardly groaned. He'd only read a few pages of Icha Icha Paradise, but it was enough to get the gist of the entire book. Lessons on how to kiss, lessons on how to be the perfect date and corny pick up lines were meshed into the story's plot, which was disgustingly erotic. He'd barely avoided throwing up his dinner the first night and now he couldn't even stand to glance at the cover, which was why he'd colored it entirely black.

"Naruto? You were about to say something?" Kakashi asked, goading him.

"It's complete _crap!_" Naruto exclaimed. "It's just about making out, corny jokes and sex!"

Kakashi smirked underneath the mask he wore. _Jiraiya . . . I told you they couldn't appreciate your books . . ._ He was pretty happy at Naruto's response and at the fact that almost everyone in the room had the same reaction to Jiraiya's bestsellers. _Now I get 100,000 yen . . . What to spend it on?_ "I thought it would be very educational," Kakashi murmured absently, "after all you guys are hormonal teenagers. There's generally the urge to try a few things."

Tenten, a blush on her cheeks, coughed.

Neji masked his look of disgust.

Sasuke masked _his_ look of disgust.

Naruto stared at Kakashi, wide-eyed.

"_W-were not perverts like you!_" he screamed.

_Really_, Neji thought, _it's like he's urging us to do those things, as if we don't have enough incentive already. Giving us a book on how to have sex, make out and go on dates . . . Geez, how the hell did he ever get hired?_

"I see it everyday in the hall," Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head in a boyish manner. "And if I have to see you guys sticking your tongues down each others throats every time I have to walk there you might as well do it right."

XXXXX

"_What type of logic is that?_" Tenten asked in disdain, slamming her locker close. She waited for Neji to finish and leaned against her locker. "I mean, no one wants to read a perverted book like that. It's like Kakashi-sensei's giving us permission to practice the techniques in the book."

Neji closed his locker and said, "He's . . . odd." A group of guys, sauntering and laughing, walked pass them. It was so quick Neji barely saw it but it made the blood in his veins run hot and he clenched his fists. Tenten was facing her locker and it gave them an opportunity to view the generous curve of her hips and ass. _I hate that,_ he thought angrily.

"Hate what?" Tenten asked, piqued because of the angry tone in Neji's voice.

He was dumbstruck for a second. "What?" _How did she . . ._

She frowned. "You said you hated something and I asked you 'what?'. You sounded pretty angry."

_Shit!_ He hadn't realized he'd said it out loud! "Hn."

Tenten sighed and patted him on the head like a dog. "You're embarrassed. It's ok Neji, I'll bug you about it later."

Neji's mouth was slightly agape and he was about to tell her to shut up, but then Tenten, smiling, poked him on the forehead. His mind blanked out on him and Neji just stared. _Did she just . . . Poke me?_ He narrowed his eyes and made a grab for her wrist but Tenten danced out of his range. She stuck her tongue out and then sashayed her way down the hall to her next class.

A snickering erupted behind him and Neji rounded on Naruto. "What?" he hissed.

Naruto began laughing and Sasuke had a smirk on his face. "You looked very blank when Tenten did that," The Uchiha commented absently. Sasuke could tell Neji was ruffled behind his cool exterior and made a low blow at his enormous ego. "Did she hurt you?" he asked, his voice syrupy and oozing mock concern.

"You should've seen your face Neji!" Naruto yelled in the midst of his raucous laughter.

It was official. Hyuuga Neji was going to murder Uzumaki Naruto and, for good measure, Uchiha Sasuke. "Shut up, you idiots."

Sasuke crossed his arms and pierced Neji with his onyx eyes, not that the Hyuuga cared.

"Neji and Tenten sitting in a tree," Naruto chanted, his voice getting louder as he progressed.

"Hn."

"_K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes LOVE, then co_-"

Neji left without another word but Naruto's ridiculous song lyrics rang in his ears.

XXXXX

"Asuma-sensei's late, _again_." Ino complained, frowning at the door to the classroom they were currently in.

Tenten replied wordlessly with a 'hm' and tried to focus on the book she held.

Sakura frowned. "He's getting as bad as Kakashi-sensei."

"M-maybe he ran into . . . Some trouble?" Hinata said quietly, trying to give their teacher the benefit of the doubt.

"Highly unlikely." Ino replied. "He's probably freaking out because his damn lighter won't light his damn cigarette."

"You have such a poor opinion of me, Ino."

Said girl whipped around hastily and gave Asuma a large fake smile. "A-Asuma-sensei! I'm _so glad _you showed up! How are you today?"

Asuma inhaled on his cigarette and frowned at her. "Cut the crap Ino. We're going to be watching a movie today," He walked to his desk and opened a drawer, reaching in and extracting a video. "Health: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex. Exciting, huh?"

The class groaned half-heartedly and Asuma popped in the video.

"I'm giving you ten seconds to move around to that you're next to your friends. Go." There was a mad rush of people moving chairs, pushing, shoving and general madness and then Asuma turned off the lights. It was dead silent until he turned on the video and then the buzz of whispers, they _tried_ to be discrete, greeted his ears. "You guys can whisper, but no yelling or screaming."

Sakura tucked her legs up to her chin and folded her arms around them. "So how was Kakashi-sensei's class Tenten?"

Said girl closed her book and sighed. "Boring as usual."

"Hm." The pink-haired girl murmured sympathetically. "But what's going _on_ with _you_ _and Neji_?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tenten reopened her book and calmly glanced at it.

"Cut the crap!" Ino hissed, excitement all over her face. "Lee told us you and Hyuuga went to Café Aka Tsuki the other day! Spill!"

"T-that was a mistake," Tenten mumbled quietly, "I didn't know it was one till we got there." _Oh god, that was so embarrassing. All those people around us sucking face was enough to make me hurl, but Neji was such a good guy and put up with it all . . . I should really make it up to him . . ._ But she'd enjoyed it. A lot more than she let on. It was nice to be alone with him like that, she could actually imagine that they were 'together' and on a real date. "Nothing happened anyways." she stated quickly, trying to end the conversation before it began.

An evil smile bloomed on Sakura and Ino and Tenten groaned in defeat.

Hinata's eyebrow lifted and she gazed at Tenten in awe. _Neji_ certainly hadn't mentioned anything like that at home. For all she knew they were just acting normal; studying together and such. Hinata frowned into the darkness, hoping that the others didn't catch her expression. Neither Tenten or Neji ever mentioned if they were really 'studying' in his room whenever they went in there, so many of them had been under the impression that . . . They . . . She shook her head vigorously and blushed. _No! Neji-niisan wouldn't do something like that! Neither would Tenten!_ Still . . . Their silence left a lot to be said. Hinata watched as Tenten scooted away as much as possible from Ino and Sakura and she smiled.

_She's nervous. _She began nibbling on her thumb and thought. Neji never seemed to like hanging out with other girls. He barely spoke to Ino and Sakura, he'd speak to Temari a little, he spoke to _her_ civilly, but he always seemed to talk to Tenten. Especially when they were alone in his room. Hinata found it fascinating, and thought Tenten was very brave. She, herself, couldn't last more than a few minutes with Neji. He was so _intimidating_ and she could barely carry a conversation with him, but Tenten could talk with him for hours and never say the same thing twice. Hinata knew; she'd seen some of the phone bills.

"Did you guys _kiss?_"

"Did he hold your hand?!"

"Was he sweet?"

"Was the place romantic?"

The questions kept coming and Tenten's head was spinning. She felt like she was drowning in their curiosity and she was about to give in and tell when Hinata threw her a lifeline.

"Stop pestering her," Hinata sighed. "S-she'll tell us when she's ready."

_Thank you! Hinata, you rock!_ Tenten wanted to throw her arms around the Hyuuga.

Sakura pouted, but grinned. "Aw, we still want to know!"

"No." Tenten said, her voice hard. But Sakura gave her puppy eyes and her resolve was chipped away by it. _No! Must . . . Not . . . Succumb . . . _She sighed in dejection. "Maybe some other time, ok?"

"Great!" Sakura cried out happily. "You can tell us all about it Friday night!"

"Friday . . . Night?" The brown eyed girl repeated stupidly, totally dumbfound. "What's happening Friday?"

Ino laid her arm around Hinata's shoulders and said, "Didn't you hear? We're having a sleepover at Hinata's house."

Tenten turned to Hinata for conformation. "We are?"

"Y-yes. I-I thought it would be fun. My father is gone for three weeks on a business trip, so you guys could stay at my house that entire time if you wanted. I told Ino and Sakura the day . . . You . . ." Hinata trailed off into silence, afraid to once again ignite the conversation Tenten wanted to stay quiet.

"The day you went on your date with Hyuuga Neji." Ino finished for her.

"It wasn't a date," Tenten said, slightly exasperated. "We just talked."

"Says you." Sakura hissed quietly under her breath, causing Hinata to grin involuntarily.

"_We just talked_."

"About what?" Ino prompted, hoping she'd fall for the bait, but Tenten only scowled at the blonde.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Tenten asked scathingly.

XXXXX

A/N: Ah, so the girls are having a sleepover at the Hyuuga house, I wonder what the guys will be doing . . . It's such an over used concept in a lot of fics, but it works so damn well when you're trying to get all the characters in at once. I'm sure you can guess what will happen next. If you liked it please review!


	6. Foiled

A/N: Chapter 6! Wow, thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed! I was having some trouble with FF at the beginning of the week, not getting emails and such, but now it's fine. Was anyone else having that problem too? Anyways, this has to be the longest chapter so far . . . I think it was over 10 pages. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 6

XXXXX

Neji POV

_I need to watch myself more. How could I have said that in front of Tenten? She would've found it funny, or weird. And what if she'd actually enjoyed those guys staring at her? What if she liked one of them? As a potential boyfriend possibly? I don't think I could stand that. I don't know why, but I think I'd kill the damn bastard then kill his friends and anyone else who tried to stare at Tenten like that ever again._

_Oh, that reminds me, I need to kill Naruto and Uchiha as well. I can't believe I didn't notice their presence. Normally I can sense a person a mile away, even when my back is turned, but I've been off lately. I guess my mind has been preoccupied by things . . . Like, why does Tenten want to know my fear so much? Does she want to use it to blackmail me? No, she'd never do that . . . At least I hope not. _

_Hinata's having a sleepover at the house with the other girls. It's going to be noisy and I wonder if I'll be able to get some sleep. I know in this this type of situation Naruto or one of the other guys would spy on them and try to listen in on their conversations, but there's probably not going to be anything worth overhearing tonight. _

XXXXX

"Hinata . . . Ok . . . Seven . . . Got it. Don't worry . . . Yes, I'll be there. Ok, bye!"

Tenten closed her cell phone and grinned. It was going to be awesome having a sleepover at Hinata's giant house. She grabbed a red duffel bag from her closet and began filling it with the basic feminine necessities. _Shirt . . . Jeans? No, I'll go with a skirt . . . Pajamas . . ._ Tenten grabbed them off her bed then went to her bathroom to gather a toothbrush, toothpaste, a towel and her brush. _Should I bring my bikini or not?_ Hinata had a large pool behind her house complete with a running waterfall and a Jacuzzi. The place was heavenly and usually she and the others ended up swimming in the pool for hours while some of the servants brought them drinks and snacks. _Bikini, yes._

Tenten forgot that Hyuuga Neji also lived in that house.

XXXXX

"W-why did you want me to t-tell Tenten to be there at seven?" Hinata asked, slightly confused. Why was Ino wearing a large grin? "We're not g-getting there till eight. Hanabi is on a school trip. The only person who will be home is-oh."

"Uh huh."

XXXXX

Neji opened the refrigerator and peered inside. Shelf upon shelf was loaded with sodas, bottled water or the occasional energy drink. _Wrong one_. He closed that one, then opened it's friend to the left. _This_ refrigerator held food, which was as healthy as the drinks in the other. _Leftover Chinese, sushi from Todai, cookie dough, god, how do we survive on this stuff?_ Neji shut the door and a hiss of cold air escaped, causing goose bumps to appear on his arm. He continued looking throughout the expansive kitchen. The cupboards and pantry: chips, dip, candy, chocolate, ramen. In other words, junk food. He _hated_ junk food. Why_ did they buy all this crap? _He opened the freezer and saw frozen pizzas, ice cream and Popsicles. _I hope Hiashi gets back soon so we'll have real food in the house again._

He knew it was all for Hinata's sleepover tonight, she'd told him a few days ago, but he wished the servants had bought healthier things.

The door bell rang and Neji looked at the clock. _It's only seven . . . Too early._ He ignored it, but a few seconds later the door bell rang once again.

Neji walked out into the foyer and opened the door. "Tenten." he said, somewhat surprised to find her there. She was staring at him stupidly and looking behind him into the house.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked.

"I _live_ here."

"Isn't Hinata home yet? She told me to come at seven-"

"Eight." Neji replied, cutting her off. "Hinata's at Sakura's house with Ino."

Tenten gasped. "Hinata _lied_ to me?" Neji's eyes narrowed slightly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, watching her. _No! She'd never do that! What is this anyway? Some plan to get me and Neji alone together . . . _"_Ino._" Tenten hissed. She looked up to see Neji's passive face and smiled, her jaw clenched tightly. "I'm going to kill her."

"I see."

"Can I come in?"

"Hn." Neji stepped aside and held the door open. As if he could turn her away.

XXXXX

They were in his room, Neji was on his bed reading and she sat on the floor. Tenten glanced at Neji, who was trying to force himself through a disgusting chapter of Icha Icha Tactics.

"Not that easy, is it?" she asked, sitting on his bed beside him.

"It's not bad." he answered.

"You don't have to lie to me." Tenten murmured knowingly. "You hate it."

"Hn." Neji closed the book and set it on the nightstand beside his bed.

She laughed. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Nothing in particular comes to mind." Neji replied nonchalantly.

"Let's get back to our game!" Tenten suggested excitedly, a gleam in her eye.

"No." he stated with finality.

"Neji!"

"No."

"You're just scared because it's _my_ turn."

"No it isn't." he said, piercing her with his impressive glare. "It's mine."

"Fine," Tenten said, "then go."

"Why do you want to play this game so much? You already know more about me than anyone else," Neji murmured, trying to discern her blank expression, "so why do you want to know more?"

Tenten shrugged. "You're interesting. Behind that stoic face you always wear there's an actual human being instead of the ice prince you lead everyone to believe." She punched him in the shoulder and he frowned at her antic. "Besides, you were in the hospital for a few weeks. We need to catch up."

"Nothing can happen in a few weeks." he said confidently. _Besides almost dying then making the stupidest mistake of my life._

"_Anything_ can happen in a few weeks." she countered, equally as confident. "By the way . . ." Tenten scooted closer and placed a hand on his cheek. When Neji didn't protest she trailed her fingers up his face till they touched the bandage across his forehead. "Neji, why do you wear these all the time? Isn't it healed already?"

He grasped her wrist and brought it away from his face. "Nothing, just a scar from the accident."

"Will you show me?"

Neji was about to say no flat out, but her expression did a funny thing to his heart and he let go of her wrist. She gently began unwinding the bandages and as the scar was revealed her expression grew sad and tender.

"Neji," she murmured, sadness lacing her voice, "it looks painful."

"Hn."

Tenten tentatively traced the wound. A jagged cross adorned his head now and there was a single slash on both sides, possibly from some shattered glass. She gazed at it, then turned to his face and smiled.

He didn't say anything and closed his eyes. Neji never dreamed her touch could feel so good. Her fingers were cool as she gently touched the torn flesh. She'd looked at him sadly but gave a smile; her smile was beautiful. Her eyes were beautiful . . . _She_ was beautiful. Neji leaned his head against the bend of her shoulder and neck. His warm breath tickled her skin but Tenten didn't mind. She traced the scar, then her fingers trailed down his cheeks. She began running them through his hair, which was soft and silky to the touch as she'd always imagined, and placed her head on his.

Neji would've killed anyone else who was playing with his hair, but he didn't really care at the moment. It felt good. Now he sort of understood why girls played their hair for such obscenely long hours. He'd never felt so _happy_. Ever since his father died things had been dark. Of course whenever he was with Tenten it was alright. As long as Tenten was there he could stand it . . . _Tenten_ made life bearable.

He was always thinking before acting, so for once he decided to act on pure instinct. Neji lifted his head and placed a warm hand against her neck. She stared at him quizzically but didn't say anything. He tilted her head up to his and leaned in. Tenten's hand left his hair and she pressed it against his cheek. Her breath was warm as it met his lips and she gazed at him with half-lidded eyes.

BAM!

Thoroughly startled Neji pushed himself away and his back slammed into the wall behind his bed. Tenten's eyes were wide and facing the door as she hastily turned around.

"_T-Tenten! N-Neji-niisan! A-are you here?_" Hinata's voice drifted through the door. They could hear pounding feet upon the wooden stairs, making their way up to his room.

Her cheeks felt hot and Tenten was thankful that they'd closed the door. If it had been open . . .

"Um," She didn't know what to say to him. Neji was just staring at her with his blank white eyes and Tenten got off his bed and grabbed her bag. "I guess I'm going to go." She desperately wanted to kiss him, but Hinata was waiting. "Um, thanks Neji." Opening the door she made her fast escape from Neji and his gorgeous lips of temptation and doom.

He watched her go and sagged against the wall as the door shut behind her. Hinata had glanced at him wordlessly before the door closed and walking off with Tenten, but her expression spoke volumes. _She knows . . . Hinata knows . . ._ Neji scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned quietly in frustration. What was _wrong_ with him? Doing something so _stupid_. What if Tenten hadn't wanted him to kiss her? That could've ended their friendship, their five year friendship, right then. _Dammit! I don't want that to happen_, Neji thought, _ever_. _But I really want to kiss her._

XXXXX

"Tenten!" Sakura cried out happily. "There you are!"

Tenten smiled in response and set her bag down upon the carpeted floor of the Hyuuga living room. "Yeah. How long have you guys been here?"

"About two minutes?"

Hinata appeared at the foot of the stairs, an unreadable look upon her pale face. Tenten stiffened, but when the Hyuuga said nothing about what had happened upstairs she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. _Hinata can keep a secret, _Tenten thought happily, _she won't tell them before asking me if it's ok. It's ok . . ._

"Hey, Hinata did you say Diet Coke or regular?" Ino popped out of the kitchen holding a soda can in either hand. She stared at Tenten for a moment, then tried to make a getaway, but Tenten was too fast for her.

"_You! I can't believe you'd do that to me!_" Tenten screamed, her voice high enough to shatter glass. "_Ino you are so dead!_"

"H-hold on!" The blonde stammered and held her hands up, palms facing Tenten's advancing form. "I-it was an accident!"

"Really. Somehow I find that _very_ hard to believe . . ."

Ino cringed. "But don't say you aren't thankful!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tenten asked, her tone cold.

A sly smile appeared on Ino's lips and she smirked. "What exactly were you and _Neji_ doing in his room? With the door _shut?_"

"Nothing." Tenten was surprised how quickly the lie rolled off her lips. Of course Ino saw right through it immediately and the irritating smirk became more pronounced. "We were just talking." Tenten said defensively. "Whenever we're alone in his room we don't take it as an opportunity to act like animals." There was laughter all around from her friends and Tenten sighed in relief. _Danger averted for now._

"Come on you guys," Hinata said, "let's get into the pool."

XXXXX

From his window he could see the pool, which meant he got a wonderful glimpse of Tenten in a skimpy, red bikini. Neji tried to avert his eyes but the hormone affected teenager inside him couldn't turn away. He stared at her body, transfixed by the cream colored skin she blatantly showed and her feminine curves, made more obvious by the tight 'garment' she wore. His eyes trailed down her form to her breasts and down her hips to her ass.

Then the phone rang. Neji groaned and turned away. "I'm staring at her like some freak pervert," he muttered to himself as he picked up his cell phone. He flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Neji-kun! Do you like the view outside your window?"

_Him!_ Neji mind screamed out. "You." he replied coldly into the phone.

On the other end Gai laughed. "Well? I'm sure it's quite nice with four fabulous girls in nothing but bikinis playing in th—"

"How did you get my number?" Neji cut him off irritably.

More laughter. "The _Student Directory _is a wonderful thing."

Neji wanted to curse himself for being foolish enough to willingly put his name, phone number, _and_ email address into the cursed _Student Directory_. Thanks to it's wonderful information he'd had fan girls calling at all hours of the day and a million admiring emails in his inbox, until Hiashi grew tired of answering the phone and changed Neji's cell phone and Neji himself changed his email address.

"I changed my number months ago."

"Teachers have special privileges." Gai said, his tone was happy and there was laughter behind him.

Neji's brow furrowed and he asked, "Who's there with you?"

"Lee! He needed extra tutoring on the Trigonometry Ratios I taught in class today."

"I'm sure," Neji replied, but, sadly, the sarcasm was lost on Gai.

"Well," Gai murmured in a hushed tone, "here is a perfect opportunity for you to work on courting the fair Tenten."

"I'm not courting her," he snapped. "She's my friend."

"Invite some of your male friends if you're scared to go downstairs alone. I'm sure they'd _love_ to see the girls in such skimpy attire."

"I'd _never_ do that." Neji ground his teeth together, imagining the others ogling Tenten and his little cousin Hinata. "That's stupid."

"Like I said: if you're afraid invite your friends." There was a loud beeping sound in the background. "I must go now, Neji-kun. Tell me how it goes on Monday!"

And the line went dead.

Neji closed the phone and threw it onto his bed. He wished it was Gai's head and that he could throw it into a wall, which he would've done if the phone itself hadn't cost almost $400. _Stupid teacher . . . Stupid Death . . . Suggesting I should court Tenten . . . Suggesting I should invite the others over to ogle at female bodies in bikinis . . . Damn him. I'd never do that! I am a well brought up person. I am of a prestigious family. _

_I._

_Would._

_Never._

_Sink._

_That._

_Low._

XXXXX

Neji waited a few blocks from his house on the end of the street. He frowned into the darkness and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. The sound of running feet reached his ears and Neji closed his eyes, waiting for the voice he knew the footsteps belonged to.

"Neji!" Naruto yelled, a giant grin plastered across his stupid face. "Thanks for inviting us over tonight!"

He wanted to slap himself. _This was a bad idea after all,_ Neji thought. In the end he'd invited Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, and, he held in the bile rising into his mouth, Uchiha Sasuke. Neji had been hoping for other people but Lee was busy, Chouji was visiting family in Okinawa, and Gaara and Kankurou were in China at the moment. Shino and Kiba were out with their fathers on 'bonding trips' which consisted of camping in the wilderness and running around with Akamaru and, for Shino at least, bug hunting.

Shikamaru groaned and scratched the back of his head. "Why are we here again?"

Naruto smacked him and huffed. "Duh! We're here to see girls in bikinis!"

"No." Sasuke said, glancing at Neji's guarded expression. "We're here for moral support."

Neji visibly winced. _Damn!_

"'Moral support'?" Naruto echoed. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shikamaru sighed and regarded Neji with a knowing look in his eyes. "He's going to make his move on Tenten."

"I am not." Neji said icily.

Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright Neji. We'll keep our eyes off your girl."

"She isn't my—" He stopped himself from continuing and turned away from them. Sasuke was smirking, Shikamaru was staring and Naruto was grinning. "Just don't act like complete asses."

XXXXX

Loud music was blaring (Every Time We Touch by Cascada, courtesy of Ino), sodas chilled in a cooler by the Jacuzzi (Courtesy of Hinata), chips and dip were piled onto the table outside on the rock by the pool (Courtesy of Sakura) and they were all attacking each other with Super Soakers (Courtesy of Tenten).

_**I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me,**_

_**I still feel your touch in my dreams,**_

_**Forgive me my weakness, **_

_**But I don't know why,**_

_**Without you it's hard to survive,**_

"Gotcha!" Sakura screamed as she turned the fire arm onto Tenten, but the brown-haired girl managed to duck beneath the water before being squirted in the face. Sakura's green eyes stared at the water and then behind her as she heard a splash. Bright underwater lights illuminated the edge of the pool, turning the water white, but where she was the water was still a mix of blue and green. Her eyes narrowed. It was quiet . . . _Too_ quiet in fact. She gasped. "_Dammi_—" She didn't get to finish as hands grasped her ankles and she was effectively dragged down into the watery depths.

XXXXX

'_**Cause every time we touch I get this feeling,**_

_**And every time we kiss I swear I could fly,**_

_**Can't you feel my heart beat fast,**_

_**I want this to last,**_

_**Need you by my side,**_

Water hit water.

"Damn it's loud," Shikamaru complained as they walked into the house.

Water hit water.

Neji could hear the screams and laughter coming from the pool outside. He looked at the wood panel flood and almost groaned out loud. It was wet. Water was all over the place; through the kitchen, the living room and finally to the pool area. It was prime conditions for someone to fall and break their neck.

Water hit water. A splash.

"Wow, they didn't waste time did they?" Naruto gazed at the bags on the living room floor, the wet towels on the sofa and some clothes on the kitchen chairs.

Water hit human.

"_You are so dead!_"

'_**Cause every time we touch I feel the static,**_

_**And every time we kiss I reach for the sky,**_

"_Yeah right!_"

Water hit rock.

"_Ino! You're going down!_"

Water hit rock.

"_Hinata! Hey!_"

Water hit human.

_**Can't you hear my heart beat slow,**_

_**I can't let you go,**_

_**Want you in my life,**_

Pounding feet and they just waited till they saw Tenten racing into the house, a Super Soaker in hand. Hinata had her own 'gun' propped on her shoulder, taking aim and firing. A giant stream of water shot out and Tenten jumped to avoid the onslaught, turning around in midair to squirt back. Hinata hit the floor on her stomach and the water hit Sakura in the face. The pink-haired girl was glaring daggers at Tenten and she raised her own gun.

"_Die!_" Sakura screamed. She pulled the trigger.

"_Shit!_" Tenten leapt out of the way and found herself crashing in a solid wall. A _warm_ solid wall. Which breathed. And even had a heart beat. _How weird, _she thought to herself, _Hinata was breathing walls. _She looked up into Neji's annoyed expression and her lips parted. "Neji," she murmured, startled by his sudden appearance and her lack of dress. His hands were gripping her bare arms and she shivered. "Hi."

_**Your arms are my castle,**_

_**Your heart is my sky,**_

_**They wipe away tears that I cry,**_

_**The good and the bad times,**_

_**We've been through them all,**_

_**You make me rise when I fall,**_

Ino suddenly appeared, her fully loaded gun in hand. "_Gotcha! Tenten!_" She fired without thinking.

And without thinking, Tenten ducked.

And Neji ended up very wet from the neck up.

The guys burst out laughing, Sasuke only allowed himself a cool smirk, and the girls all stared, horrified expressions plastered on their faces.

Well, all except Tenten.

She was smiling and pushed back a few sopping wet strands of hair from Neji's irritated face. Tenten wanted to laugh but kept a straight face; he looked like he wanted to murder everybody in the room. Neji calmly let her go and stalked up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Damn," Ino frowned and glared at her gun. "I got Neji instead . . . I think he's mad at me."

"No shit," Naruto said. "You just hit him with water and embarrassed him."

Ino scoffed. "No way. Neji's too cool to be embarrassed like that."

Tenten was laughing with the rest of them while she got her towel. Then she took the stairs two at a time to go heal Neji's bruised ego.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Naruto began, eyeing her scantly clad form. She had on a small, beige string bikini and Naruto's hormone affected (i.e. perverted) mind was on overdrive.

"Y-yes?" she asked, pressing her index fingers and biting her lower lip in nervousness.

He grinned at her, exposing a set of pearly whites. "You look _hot_."

She fainted from happiness, falling to the floor as the blood rushed to her cheeks.

XXXXX

_Stupid water, stupid Ino, stupid oversized water guns, _Neji though furiously as he shrugged out of his shirt and began drying his hair with it. _Stupid Tenten. She probably brought those damn things here. I can't believe they were shooting each other with those things all around the pool and coming into the house to do it too. What if one of them had slipped? _He could see in his mind's eye Tenten's prone figure upon the floor with blood pooling around her head. He frowned.

A knock on his door. "Neji?" Tenten called. "Let me in."

"What do you want?" he asked, his voice sharper than he intended.

"Please Neji," she whispered, knowing it would get to him, "please let me in."

Neji clenched his fist but opened the door none the less. Tenten fell through, she'd been leaning on the door while she waited, and fell right into his arms. Her eyes were wide as she stared into Neji's passive ones, completely surprised at their closeness and his lack of a shirt. Electricity was racing through her blood and she had to control the urge to spontaneously wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.

'_**Cause every time we touch I get this feeling,**_

_**And every time we kiss I swear I could fly,**_

_**Can't you hear my heart beat fast,**_

_**I want this to last,**_

_**Need you by my side,**_

_Damn! He was such a nice chest! No! Stay focused, Tenten!_ "Um, do you want me to help you get dried off?"

He let her go and she closed the door so no one could eavesdrop on their conversation. "Hn." Neji sat on his bed, closing his eyes as he did so.

Tenten sighed. "I know you're angry . . ."

"Hn."

"And embarrassed . . ."

"_Hn_."

"And worried." she added finally.

"What the _hell_ were you four doing?" he asked sharply. "You know the floor is slippery when it's wet. One of you could've smashed your head into the wall or slipped and had a concussion."

Tenten sighed again and walked over so she stood in front of him. Dropping her semi-wet towel onto his head she began drying his hair. "Neji," she said quietly, "I'm sorry we worried you. We were just having fun."

"Dangerous." he muttered angrily.

"Ok, fine." she said. "Maybe we should've stayed in the pool."

'_**Cause every time we touch I feel the static,**_

_**And every time we kiss I read for the sky,**_

_**Can't you hear my heart beat slow,**_

_**I can't let you go,**_

_**Want you in my life,**_

Neji grunted in satisfaction. He grasped her arms and Tenten stared down at him in puzzlement. Gently he brought her closer and she complied, tilting her head to the side slightly as she watched his lips moving closer. _I want this so badly! _Neji thought. So what if she hated him from that day forward? At least he got to kiss her, even if it was just once. The towel fell from his head as he leaned in.

Tenten could feel his breath on her skin and her legs felt like water. Her stomach seemed to drop to her feet. Blood was rushing through her veins and her heart was beating fast. _He's going to kiss me . . . _She could scarcely breathe.

BAM!

And just like that the mood was broken.

Neji cursed as his head fell onto her shoulder.

Naruto knocked again. And again . . . And again, just to make sure he was heard. "Hey! We're going to play a game downstairs! Hurry up, will ya?"

Tenten forced a smile to her face. "We should get downstairs." she said, but the disappointment was evident in her voice. She couldn't see Neji's expression, his dark hair formed a curtain around his face, but she wagered he wanted to strangle someone.

_Dammit! _He clenched his fists. _It happened again!_

'_**Cause every time we touch I get this feeling,**_

_**And every time we kiss I swear I could fly,**_

_**Can't you feel my heart beat fast,**_

_**I want this to last,**_

_**Need you by my side.**_

XXXXX

A/N: Song is Every Time We Touch by Cascada (I love her songs, beautiful singing voice in my opinion) and if you liked it please review!


	7. The Game

A/N: Chapter 7! I love you guys! Over a hundred reviews for this story! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own. Sadly.

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Chapter 7

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Neji POV

_Ok, maybe some people think I'm above wanting simple pleasures like the touch of a girl or kissing or even sex, but geez! I do like that stuff! At least, I think I will once I 'do it'. It might be hard to believe for some of my fan girls, but I am pure as the driven snow. Anyways, that makes two times that Tenten and I've been interrupted when we were about to kiss. Twice! I can't take it anymore! First Hinata comes home with her friends and they start their little sleepover, and then Naruto comes up and says we're going to play a game. _

_Honestly. Who would rather play a game than get kissed? No sane teenage male, that's what I'll tell you._

_I'm going to kiss her before she leaves, I swear. _

_If I don't I think I might kill Naruto, which might not be such a bad thing . . ._

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Right about now was when Tenten _really_ wished she'd worn a one-piece swimsuit. Her . . . Female extremities . . . Were slipping out of the bikini top and it was uncomfortable because Neji was right behind her and she was walking down a flight of stairs. She bit her lower lip and wanted to say something to him about what had _almost_ happened a few minutes ago, but something inside her, cowardice, prevented her from doing so. Secretly, she was afraid he regret what almost happened between them. _These feelings are so weird._ Tenten wanted to run away and hide from them. _I don't know what to do . . ._

"Tenten! Neji!" Sakura called, motioning for them to come into the living room. "Hurry up!"

Neji reluctantly edged towards the living room and Tenten hastily went to her bag, now in the kitchen, to find a shirt. A clap of thunder reached her ears and Tenten looked outside through a large glass window. Dark clouds swirled in the sky and she frowned. _I hope Hinata will be ok . . . She doesn't like thunderstorms . . ._

"_Finally_." Naruto said. Neji's eyes narrowed in momentary disdain, not because the blonde had ruined the kiss, but because Naruto was sitting incredibly close to Hinata. "We thought you guys were making out in there or something."

"_Naruto!_" Sakura hissed.

_How ironic_, Neji thought. They could have been at this very moment if _he_ hadn't come. "You all are stupid. Tenten and I don't do that sort of thing together."

"Yeah," Tenten said while dragging a shirt down her bare midriff, "and if we did it's none of your business."

"Tenten!" Ino cried, "we'd tell you if _we_ were making out with a hot guy!"

The brown-eyed girl scoffed and sat down Indian style on the plush carpeted floor. "What are we doing?"

"Truth or Dare," Sasuke said ominously.

Neji shrugged and sat down across from Tenten. He noticed, oddly, that the girls and the guys weren't mingling; the guys sat with the guys and the girls sat with the girls. He cast an inquisitive glance to Shikamaru, but the Nara shook his head.

"In this version the guys are against the girls. You guys," Sakura pointed to them in turn, "make up a team and whenever you ask one of use truth or dare, you can talk amongst yourselves to think up a dare or a question to ask. The team that asks the question or dare can choose whether or not to give the person an alternative, but it's not necessary."

"Ok, I'll start." Ino murmured, tapping her bottom lip with her perfectly manicured index finger. "Sasuke, truth or dare?"

_Should I play it safe? Or should I be brave? Then again, bravery can always be mistaken for stupidity . . ._ "Truth." Sasuke answered.

"You're a wimp, Uchiha!" Naruto jeered, pointing at him.

"Shut up, dobe. I'm not stupid," Sasuke answered heatedly. "I know they'd make me do something stupid and embarrassing." He crossed his arms over his chest and sat looking smug. "But I chose truth."

_Oh, you just wait Sasuke, _Ino thought devilishly. She turned to the other girls and they got into a huddle. "Ok, so what should we make him tell us?"

"Who he likes." Sakura said automatically.

"No, too cliché." Tenten whispered back.

"Dammit! I'd made up the perfect dare too!" Ino whined quietly.

"L-let's make him tell us about a w-wet d-dream he's h-had." Hinata murmured quietly.

The other girls stared at her in open shock.

"Hinata!" Ino hugged her and squealed. "That's perfect!"

Suddenly, Sasuke wasn't feeling so hot and the back of his neck felt a little damp.

The girls turned back around and all of them wore smirks. "Ok, Sasuke," Ino flipped back her long blonde hair and grinned. "Tell us about a wet dream you've had."

Naruto burst out laughing and Shikamaru, couldn't help himself this time either, laughed with him. Neji kept his cool and smirked, but inside he was wondering how on Earth the girls came up with such a sick request.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was wishing he'd chosen dare. "Is there an alternative?"

"Not this time, Sa-su-ke-kun." Sakura replied sweetly. "I don't know why you're being so reluctant, I bet every other guy here has had one too." The guys winced. "And it's not like you were going at it with another guy," Sasuke winced. "So just tell us."

The Uchiha glared at Ino for a second and then began. "I was handcuffed to a bed—"

"_Handcuffed?_" Naruto cut in, a giant smirk upon his face. "What type of guy _are_ you?"

"Shut it, dobe." Sasuke growled in warning. "And then it got really hot all of a sudden and suddenly . . ." All eyes were on him and they, especially the girls, were listening intently to his words. "I didn't have any clothes on."

Tenten eyed him warily. "You were naked?"

"Yes." he replied. "Anyways, I was looking around for my clothes when a girl appeared . . . And she had a whip in her hand. She was dressed in a leather dominatrix outfit."

Hinata blushed when she heard this and closed her eyes tightly.

"Damn!" Naruto cried. "You're _dirty and kinky_, Sasuke-teme. Who was it?"

Sasuke stiffened and looked at the floor. _I wish I hadn't come over here . . . This is embarrassing and once they know they're never going to let up on it. I should've chosen dare, I should've chosen dare . . ._ "Sakura." he said monotonously.

The girls erupted in squeals and screams of delight and laughter, even Hinata was joining in. Tenten was giving a dazed Sakura a punch on the shoulder while Ino grinned from ear to ear.

"Wow, Uchiha," Tenten murmured, her voice syrupy sweet, "I didn't know you thought about our little flower that way."

Ino was rolling around on the floor and whipped tears of mirth from her eyes. "A _whip?_ Didn't know you were into that type of stuff Sasuke . . ." she teased.

Sakura was in shock and her eyes were wide as she looked at Sasuke. "You . . . Dreams about . . . I can't believe . . . That's so—" _Oh. My. God. Uchiha Sasuke thinks those things about me? I've had a huge crush on him forever and he's been thinking . . . Oh my god this is so weird! _

"Don't even say it." Sasuke hissed. "My dare is done. Who's turn is it?"

"Um . . . Y-you pick one of us g-girls." Hinata said quietly.

"Fine," Sasuke narrowed his eyes at them all. "_Sakura_."

The pink-haired girl was startled for a moment but regained her wits. "Ok. I'll be braver than _Sasuke_," she answered, casting said boy a chilling glance, "and I pick dare."

Shikamaru snorted and crossed his arms. "You guys are so troublesome."

The four guys huddled together in a circle and began whispering.

"I say we make her strip for us."

Sasuke punched Naruto in the stomach. "No." he said flatly. He couldn't, _could_, imagine her doing such a thing. But he didn't want the others seeing her naked. Sasuke could understand why they wanted her to strip, they were teenage guys who wanted to glimpse a naked girl, but he did _not_ want it to be Sakura; anyone else would be fine.

"Why not? I know _you'd _love to see that." Naruto murmured with a sly grin.

"Hn." Sasuke looked away from him in disgust, but a slight blush was on his pale cheeks.

The blonde scratched the back of his head in thought and then gasped. "Let's make her kiss Ino!"

Neji frowned. "I don't think Sakura would enjoy the fact that she has to kiss one of her best friends."

"It doesn't matter because it's a dare!" Naruto said fiercely. "Right, Shikamaru?"

All three simultaneously turned towards the Nara and Shikamaru sighed. "Do whatever you want."

"Yes!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "Sakura-chan!" Sakura cringed. She'd heard their 'whispered' conversation and knew she was going to kiss Ino. Ino had also heard and she was glaring daggers at Naruto. "Sakura-chan," Naruto said, "your dare is . . ." The blonde cast a glance at the others in the living room, his blue eyes settling on Sasuke. "_You have to kiss Sasuke-teme!_"

"_What!?_" Sakura screeched at the same time Sasuke screamed, "_Naruto, you dumb ass!_"

Neji's eye brow raised in surprise and Ino looked like she was going to cry in relief. Hinata was smiling and whispered something to Tenten, who also smiled. Shikamaru leaned against the couch and muttered something about 'troublesome people'.

Sakura cast the Uchiha a horrified look. "I'm not doing it." she said.

"S-Sakura!" Hinata placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "it's a dare. Just get it over with."

Tenten and Ino nodded in agreement.

"A _million_ girls would kill to get the opportunity to kiss Uchiha Sasuke!" Tenten whispered coyly into her ear. "You know you want to, so go for it!" She pushed the unsuspecting girl towards Sasuke and they all held their breath.

Sasuke gazed impassively at her as she landed on her palms right in front of him. Her short pink hair was still wet from the pool and her green eyes looked glassy. A blush was on her cheeks and her lips looked inviting. Sakura's heart was beating fast and she was wondering what was going through his mind as he stared at her. _Just do it. Just do it. You can do this. You've been dreaming of this for years so now's your chance!_ She grasped his shoulders and pressed her lips to his gently. To her surprise he responded, placing a hand at the back of her neck and running his tongue along her bottom lip for entrance.

She broke away from him, blushing fiercely. Sasuke was a bit reluctant and his hand slid off her neck slowly, caressing her skin. His onyx eyes held her jade ones for a few more seconds and then Sakura turned around and made her way back to her friends.

"Ok . . ." she said, looking at the other guys, "Shikamaru, truth or dare?"

_This is troublesome,_ he thought. _If I pick truth then they might make me tell them something stupid like a wet dream, but then if I pick dare then they'll make me do something stupid as well. This is a no win situation . . . Should I go for truth or dare? _"D—" he began, but caught himself and quickly changed the direction of his words. "Truth." _Damn, I'm a coward._

Sakura nodded and whispered something to Tenten. The brown-eyed girl bit her lower lip, but then a wicked smile bloomed on her face.

"Shikamaru," Tenten said slyly, "tell us if you've ever kissed another guy."

"Consequence." he muttered in response, hoping for something else.

Hinata coughed and answered quietly, "Y-you tell us if you've had thoughts about making out with another g-guy."

"That's, like," Shikamaru frowned in thought. "The same thing."

"You should be thankful," Tenten said severely. "No other guy has been allowed an alternative."

Shikamaru fidgeted and frowned at the floor. "Yes." he murmured. "I . . . Have done something like that before."

"What was that?" Sakura yelled, cupping her hand around her ear. "Speak up, Shikamaru!"

"Yes!" the boy said in exasperation, "I _have_."

"You've kissed another _guy?_" Naruto screamed while the girls collapsed into fits of laughter.

Sasuke frowned. "I didn't know you . . . Went that way . . ."

"I was drunk!" Shikamaru yelled, his voice defensive. "We were at a party, I had a few drinks, and then we played Spin-the-Bottle. It was unavoidable!"

Neji gave him a look and muttered, "Hn."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "It was at the party Temari had last year before she left for Tokyo U. We had a few beers, things got a bit hazy after the sixth one, and then we got bored and decided to play a game. Temari finished her beer first so we used the bottle to play. It got really crazy and I had to kiss a guy. End of story."

"I-I was invited," Hinata murmured, "and I heard it was g-great, but I-I had a t-test to study for."

"Who was it?" Ino asked excitedly.

Shikamaru let out a low hiss of air. "Let's move on." His eyes passed over Neji, who was sitting beside him, and he turned to Tenten abruptly and asked, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." she responded automatically, clenching her fist and smirking at the others.

Out of the corner of his eye Shikamaru could see Naruto open his mouth to say something but Shikamaru quickly said, "Kiss Neji." A stream of noise erupted through the living room and suddenly they, Ino, Naruto and Sakura, were chanting Tenten's name.

Tenten herself was in momentary shock. _Kiss Neji? _The Hyuuga was staring at her, waiting, for her to make a move towards him. She could feel a blush riding up her cheeks and Tenten wanted to crawl under a rock and die. "Crap." she said and crawled, reluctantly, towards the area where Neji was. _I have to do this!_ Secretly, Tenten was grateful for this wonderful opportunity. Two misses and finally she'd have a kiss from him. _Yes! _a voice inside her screamed in triumph.

"Tenten! Tenten! Tenten! Tente—"

What was Shikamaru _thinking?_ Neji glared at him forcefully but the Nara made it a point to avoid his eyes. Neji looked at Tenten, who was coming closer, and couldn't keep the anticipation that welled up inside at bay. So what if it was a dare? The outcome would be the same.

She was halfway across the living room when a clap of thunder and a streak of lightning lit the sky, and the house went dark.

_No!_ she thought desperately, _I can't wait any longer!_

Tenten swiftly crawled the rest of the way, grabbed the front of Neji's shirt and pressed her lips to his in a kiss.

XXXXX

A/N: When my friends and I play Truth or Dare we do crazy stuff like that. I once had to kiss a girl, very weird since I am a girl and am not bisexual or lesbian. This was probably very boring, I didn't know what to do, but Neji and Tenten have kissed! Aren't you guys happy? Please review!


	8. Brought to Light

A/N: I recieved a request from a reviewer for me to update more than once a week and I've decided, since it's Spring Break for me and I have a lot of free time on my hands, that I'll update for you guys today. I also plan to update on Friday, or Saturday, to keep my weekly schedule, so you lovely readers might get a two chapters this week.

Oh, Shikamaru is NOT gay (the kissing another guy thing was only to point out the stupidity of his choice to drink in the first place).

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 8

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Neji POV

_I was getting a little worried when Shikamaru answered that dare; the 'experience' of kissing another guy at Temari's party is something I'd like to forget. She was such a psychotic girl, I know she rigged that game. At least they can't ask who it was, which saved me a lot of grief and embarrassment. You know, before this party of Hinata's even began I had a bad feeling this was going to turn out . . . Bad. Now I wish I hadn't invited Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru because then I wouldn't have to play this stupid game. I'm actually a bit worried because there are only a few of us left who haven't been asked 'the question'._

_The house is pitch black and there's a random person clutching the lapel of my shirt, which is a bit odd . . . And scary since I don't know who it is._

XXXXX

Tenten could feel his lips moving against hers slowly, almost lazily, as she lay on top of him. Her rushing momentum had sent them crashing to the ground; Neji on his back and her on top. She'd expected him to kiss her passionately but, here he was, not even exuding effort to kiss her back. _Dammit Neji!_ her mind screamed in frustration, _Respond enthusiastically you ass!_ Her hands released his shirt and moved up to his face and neck. _Odd . . ._

XXXXX

Neji could feel a hand on his neck, and he was a bit disturbed by it. _Who the hell is this?_ He soon got his answer when the lights flickered back on and a head of yellow blonde hair met his eyes. "Get off of me." he snarled. The Hyuuga pushed Naruto away with inexplicable force and Naruto let go in surprise and fell onto his ass.

"Neji!" he yelled. "What th—" Naruto's voice faltered and he could only stare at the display on the floor.

Neji stared at him, wondering why Naruto stopped in the middle of his sentence. He surveyed the room; Sakura, Ino and Hinata's eyes were wide and staring at something behind him, Naruto did the same and Sasuke was looking at _him_ with an unreadable expression.

He turned around.

And there was Shikamaru with _Tenten_ on top of him, _kissing_.

(A/N: All of you hate me now don't you? In my defense, the false kiss thing adds a twist to the story. To the few who could see it coming: _Perceptive_.)

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Shikamaru kissed Tenten back lazily, placing his hands on her hips lightly. It wasn't like he was attracted to her, he did find her pretty though, but she was a terrific kisser. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the other girls, shock written across their faces, and the guys, equally shocked, and Neji, incredibly pissed off and shocked. _Damn, Neji's going to kill me later on. _Shikamaru reasoned that Tenten had actually been aiming for _Neji_, but they'd been sitting next to each other before the blackout, and accidentally got _him_ instead. _Man, this is so troublesome . . ._

XXXXX

When the lights came back on Tenten got the shock of a lifetime. She ripped her lips away from Shikamaru's and sat on him, pressing the back of her hand against her mouth. She had trouble breathing, not just because of Shikamaru's kissing expertise, and inwardly began hyperventilating. "Oh my god," she whispered, horrified, "Shikamaru . . ." Tenten whipped around to the faces of their surprised friends, and to Neji; his expression was thunderous and filled with so much disgust she wanted to cry. _Oh no . . . Neji! It was supposed to be you!_

"If you're done," Shikamaru pushed himself up a little by bracing his elbows. "Please get off."

She complied quickly. _Oh god, WHAT DID I DO!?_

"Um, _wow_," Naruto said, breaking the silence, "not the guy we dared you to kiss but it should suffice, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked away pointedly and didn't comment.

Sakura squeezed Tenten's shoulder. "Go ahead and ask one of the guys."

"Um," Tenten glanced at Neji, then Naruto, then at Neji again. "Naruto." she said quickly.

"Really?" the blonde said in surprise, his eye brows rising. "Ok. Truth."

"And you say _I'm_ a wimp?" Sasuke asked scathingly. "Hypocrite."

"Shut up, teme!"

"Boys," Sakura sighed, "stop." Sasuke gave Naruto a single glare and then turned away while Naruto did the same. Sakura looked at the questioningly. _They've never listened to me like that before . . . _"Ok, Tenten what's the question going to be?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hey," Ino scooted closer and whispered to Tenten, but made her voice clear enough so that the other girls could hear her, "why were you kissing Shikamaru? I thought you were into _Neji_." She couldn't quite hide the hint of annoyance she had in her voice and Tenten picked up on it quickly.

"Why do you care, Ino? You like _Sasuke_, don't you?" Tenten nailed her with a look. "Don't you care if Sakura kisses _him_ instead?"

Sasuke fidgeted a little; he wasn't used to being talked about so loudly, usually it was behind his back or something.

"Of course I do!" Ino snapped. "But Shikamaru's a friend and I don't wa—"

Tenten cut her off. "And what if he _wanted_ me to kiss him?"

Ino's eyes narrowed in dislike and she crossed her arms across her chest. "I wouldn't care."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Tenten replied sarcastically.

"H-hey," Hinata looked from Tenten to Ino and then back. "S-stop fighting already. T-this isn't like y-you two."

"Yeah?" Ino said sharply, "Well it's not everyday Tenten's pressing her lips to every guy in the room acting like a _whore_."

A vein in Neji's neck twitched. Tenten wasn't a whore . . .

"_Excuse me?_" Tenten stood up at the same time Ino did; the others watched the brewing 'cat fight' with utmost interest.

"This has to be the best part of the night," Naruto murmured.

"This is just troublesome."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru in disbelief. "What are you talking about? Two hot girls are fighting over you!"

Sasuke and Neji were dead silent.

"You heard me!" Ino screamed. "I can't believe you'd kiss him like that!"

"You're the one who keeps saying you like _Sasuke_, you never said you liked _Shikamaru_." Tenten countered angrily. "Why should _you_ care if Shikamaru and I kiss? You aren't going out with him and you won't even admit you have _feelings_ for him!"

Ino looked like she was about to slap her when she suddenly turned on her heel and gave Tenten her back. "I'm getting sick of this game. I'm leaving." The blonde stormed upstairs and they could hear the bathroom door slam shut.

Sakura looked at Tenten, put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and then ran up the stairs to try getting Ino out of the bathroom.

"I-I think y-you guys should g-go." Hinata said quietly, pressing her index fingers together.

Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru stood and they quickly made their ways to the front door. The blonde cast her a glance before leaving and gave a boyish grin. "Thanks for having us over, Hinata-chan!" She blushed like crazy in response.

Hinata gazed worriedly at Neji, then at Tenten. Both were vehemently not looking at each other and she whispered to Tenten, "I-is it ok if I leave you alone with him?"

The girl sighed and shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"Don't let what Ino said get to you. S-she's just jealous."

"Yeah . . ."

Hinata smiled at her and then took the stairs two at a time.

And then there were two: Tenten and Neji.

Neji cast her a chilling glance and then looked away.

"What's wrong with you?"

He glared at her before heading up the stairs. "Hn."

"Hey!"

Neji walked into his room and quickly tried to shut the door, but Tenten had made it in time and effectively pressed her body between the door and the frame. He glared and let go of it, causing her to fall through into his room.

"What is your _problem?_" Tenten snarled.

XXXXX

"Ino . . ."

The blonde splashed her face and neck with icy water and breathed.

"Will you talk to me at least?" Sakura asked, her voice slightly muffled by the door that stood between them.

"Go _away_, forehead girl!" Ino yelled back.

"You know Tenten has a point," Sakura said loudly, "why can't you say you like him?"

"Because I _don't!_" Ino pushed her bangs away from her face in frustration. "God, I don't know why you guys are pushing this issue. I don't like Shikamaru! He's lazy, stupid, doesn't do a thing, isn't athletic, and he's not even cute! Why would I like a guy like him?"

Sakura leaned against the door and stared at the ground. "Maybe because he _is_ all those things."

The door opened so fast Sakura fell through.

Ino stood over her, her face a mixture of fury and disgust. "Don't go all psychological on me." she threatened.

"I'm not saying you _like_ him," Sakura said tentatively, holding up her hands to quell Ino's anger, "I'm just saying that it may be a . . . _Possibility_."

"A 'possibility'?" the blonde repeated, dubious. "Oh my god, I can't _believe_ you're saying such stupid shit!"

_God, she's cursing,_ Sakura groaned, _she never does that unless she's really trying to convince herself._

"Well, you've been asking about him a lot, wondering if he's with other girls, _spying_ on him—"

"I don't _spy_ on him—"

"You've been dressing extra sexy whenever he comes around—"

"Only because Sasuke is usually hanging with him," Ino replied offhandedly.

"And that's the other thing!" Sakura frowned at her. "You didn't say anything when I kissed Sasuke, the boy you _say_ you like, but you went crazy when Tenten kissed Shikamaru!"

Ino grew silent, and then her body slumped against the bathroom door and slid to the ground. "Oh my god . . ." she looked at Sakura in shock, "I _like_ that loser." The pink-haired girl knelt onto the ground beside her. "I like _Shikamaru_."

Sakura shrugged. "It's weird."

"It's _bizarre_." Ino corrected matter-of-factly and then she sighed. "I need to apologize to Tenten."

"A-are you alright?" Both girls looked up to see Hinata shuffling her feet awkwardly. Ino and Sakura waited for Hinata to say something else because they knew something was coming. "Um, Tenten and Neji are in his room and I think they're about to have a f-fight." Hinata's words came out rushed and slightly slurred but the two girls sitting on the floor got the gist and all three raced down the hallway towards Neji's room.

XXXXX

"I don't _have_ a problem." Neji replied coldly. "And I'd like for you to get out of my room."

"You were looking at me like I was scum of the Earth just now and I'd like to know why."

"Hn."

"I hate when you do this," Tenten said through clenched teeth. "Why can't you say what you mean?"

"Why are you being so frivolous?" he asked sharply. He was angry and a bit disappointed because Shikamaru had gotten to kiss her and not him. "Do you like being so outlandish and kissing other guys?"

"I wasn't _trying_ to fall on top of him, it just _happened_." Tenten said forcefully, a little hurt by the way he formed his questions. Did Neji think of her as a slut now? "And what is it to _you_ if I kiss other guys?"

Immediately the anger melted away to nothing and he said defensively, coolly, "It doesn't mean anything to me."

She glared at him. "You make it seem like it does."

"It's disgusting the way you kissed him," he replied, "and in front of everybody as well."

"That's not what you said," Tenten growled. "At first you talked about me _kissing_ other guys, not _how_ I kissed them."

"It's the same thing."

"No, it's not and you know it!" she screamed. Tenten grabbed the front of his shirt and shook him slightly, though it didn't really have the desired effect since Neji was ten times stronger than her and immovable as a tree. "Why can't you be honest with me for _once_—"

"I _am_." he countered instantly.

"Not about important things," she whispered. "God . . . Neji . . ."

"_What?_" he asked. "What the _hell_ are you talking about?" Neji truly and honestly didn't understand what she was getting at. He was _most_ honest about things when talking to her. "What are the _important_ things?"

Tenten let him go and stepped back to get a look at his face; void of emotion as usual. She wanted to laugh at the irony. "How you feel."

"How I _feel_," Neji repeated dubiously. "You want to know how I _feel_."

"You're like . . . _Untouchable_, Neji." Tenten murmured sadly. "You never talk about important things like your dad, how you feel about things . . . You're likes and dislikes I know, but those are so _trivial_ . . . All the time you have this ice mask on that doesn't let anyone in and sometimes I can see it slipping when we talk, but immediately when it loosens you put it back up and it's—"

At the mention of his dad Neji stiffened; it was still a sore subject even in the house. "Why do you care so much?" he asked. "Those things have _nothing_ to do with _you_."

"But they have _everything_ to do with _you!_" she yelled. "We're _best friends_, aren't we? We're supposed to be able to trust each other."

"I do trust you," he said quietly.

Tenten's eyes softened for a moment. "I'm glad you do but I wish you'd open up to me more. So far the only times you have were when you almost ki—" She cut herself off and blushed slightly. _Does he regret that?_

"I'm . . Sorry about that." Neji almost choked on his words. It was hard getting out an apology now and then because normally he didn't need to, plus his pride usually got in the way. "I didn't mean to do th—"

"Truth or dare?" she interjected quickly, not giving him a chance to finish. Neji stared at her blankly for a moment and then picked truth. "What does love mean to you, Neji?"

_What type of question is this?_ "I don't know."

"Ok, do you believe in love? That there's a person out there that's just waiting for you to find them so you guys can be together?"

Tenten's eyes were staring into his own and Neji felt compelled to answer truthfully, even though the words weren't what she wanted to hear. "Love doesn't exist. People just confuse the emotions of lust and pass it off as love to justify their actions and uncontrolled feelings." he said simply. "I don't know what it is and I've never felt it before."

It was a blow to her even if he didn't mean it. Tenten was shocked that he could talk about it in such simple terms. "Didn't your parents love each other?"

"I don't know. It was an arranged marriage." Neji frowned at her. "Maybe, maybe not."

"So you don't love anyone, you've never had emotions associated with it."

"Not that I know of."

She smiled sadly and he wondered why. "How can you say that?" Tenten asked. "So when you grow older you'll just marry a girl because your uncle wants it that way."

Neji didn't care either way really, it was his duty. "Probably."

"You're _unbelievably _cold."

"Really." he snapped. "And what about you? Do _you_ believe in true love or something?" She kept looking at his face and it unnerved him.

"Yeah, I do, not that a person like _you_ would understand."

Those words cut him like nothing else could. Neji recoiled from her and said, "Get out."

Tenten instantly bristled and turned on her heel towards the door. "Fine." she snapped angrily as she slammed the door on him, them and everything that could've been.

XXXXX

Neji, fuming, punched the edge of his desk, taking perverse delight in the acute pain shooting up his arm. He scrubbed his face with his hands and wanted to scream, though it was most unlike him with his proper Hyuuga upbringing. Neji didn't know what to do anymore. First he wanted to kiss her, then he got angry at her for kissing someone else, and now he was feeling a bout of jealousy towards Shikamaru and frustration at Tenten for not understanding. Part of it was his fault because he'd never talk about it, but still . . . _She's right. I never talk about important things._

His cell phone began ringing on his bed and Neji picked up. "Hello?"

"_How could you screw up so badly!?_" Gai wailed.

Neji pulled the phone away from his ear and rubbed the lobe; maybe he'd get his hearing back in a few hours. "What are you talking about?" he asked coldly.

"_You had her in your room and you didn't even go for a kiss!_"

"If you couldn't tell," Neji replied caustically, "we were _arguing_."

Gai sighed through the phone. "Why didn't you just grab her and kiss her? I don't think Tenten would've minded that."

"She's a _friend_—"

"You want to kiss her."

". . ."

"Neji," Gai said, "you need to get your act together or I'll be forced to drag you six feet under _again_. Do you really want to die in five months?"

"No," Neji answered warily. _Who would want to die? What a stupid question._

"I'm glad to hear that." Gai replied. "Now, _I_ think Tenten was trying to kiss _you_ but accidentally got your friend. It was dark wasn't it?"

"The lights were out . . ." he said reluctantly.

"And how did her kissing Nara Shikamaru make you _feel?_"

"What are you, a therapist?"

"You're being funny for once, Neji-kun," Gai cheerily snapped, "I'm being serious, so answer."

Neji was a little taken aback because Gai had never been curt with him before. Obviously he wasn't going to answer that question; he'd been denying emotions ever since his father died and he wasn't going to start 'feeling' them now.

"Jealous, perhaps?"

"No." Neji said flatly. "I don't get jealous."

Gai laughed. "_Everyone_ gets jealous, Neji-kun. It's part of being human."

"Hn."

"Were you angry?"

"_Hn_."

"At Tenten maybe?"

"She shouldn't be kissing other guys like that!" Neji growled into the phone.

"But she can kiss _you_ like that?" Gai asked.

"_Hn_."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"She shouldn't _have_ to kiss other guys."

"It was a _game_, Neji. She was _supposed _to kiss him." Gai said reasonably.

"She was supposed to kiss _me._"

"So you're angry, and disappointed probably, Tenten kissed someone else when it was supposed to be you?"

"Yes."

"In other words," Gai stated, "you're jealous."

"No."

"It _sounds_ like you're jealous. Are you sure you don't have any feelings for Tenten?"

Neji couldn't take any more of his idiotic responses. "I'm hanging up." And he did.

XXXXX

"Were you guys hanging out in front of his door _listening to our conversation?_" Tenten hissed as the three girls against the wall cowered from her anger. She'd walked out to find them all pressing their ears to the wall and shushing each other so they could hear. Tenten was angry from her argument with Neji, so this battleground would give her a wonderful opportunity to vent it all. "_Answer_." she snarled.

"O-only a little," Sakura stammered. "W-we were worried about you, Tenten."

"You guys were _pressing yourselves against the wall to hear us talk_."

"Hey! Hey!" Ino said, forcing a smile to her face. "Please don't be angry."

"_I should be beating the crap o—"_

"_T-Tenten!_"The brown haired girl turned when he name was called and saw Hinata holding a carton of cookie dough ice cream, chocolate syrup, whip cream and four spoons. "Y-you guys, let's go to my room and have some ice c-cream." Tenten was glaring at Hinata and the girl quietly added, "There are fresh strawberries in the refrigerator."

Sakura followed Tenten down the stairs to get the strawberries and Ino lightly punched Hinata on the shoulder.

"Nice save."

XXXXX

A/N: Tenten and Neji's relationship is strained, so it might be a while before they actually kiss (I'm doing my evil laugh right now), but it could happen . . . Please review (if only to voice your displeasure about the false kiss then so be it)!


	9. Girl Talk

A/N: This will probably be incredibly boring for you guys, nothing really happens and it's mostly just talk. Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed, I love you guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 9

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Neji POV

_I hate Gai and I hate Shikamaru (actually it wasn't his fault Tenten kissed him but I can still hate him for getting the kiss that should've been mine). I could hear Tenten yelling at her friends through the wall. I hadn't even realized they were listening, shows how distracted I was. She's right about me and I hate admitting I'm wrong. I guess I don't tell Tenten how I feel, she probably has to guess all the time at my mood . . . I'm just not comfortable talking about those types of things. Maybe it's easier for her since she's a girl but for me . . . It's awkward._

_God, I've made her mad . . . Tenten might never talk to me again . . ._

XXXXX

"So," Sakura licked her chocolate syrup covered spoon, "do you want to talk about what happened in there?"

The brown-haired girl brought a chocolate syrup covered strawberry to her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "I don't know what's wrong with us." Tenten leaned back against Hinata's desk and sighed deeply. "Things have been so weird since he got out of the hospital, I just don't know what to do."

They were in Hinata's room relaxing and eating and talking. From her position on the bed, Hinata said quietly, "M-maybe you like Neji-niisan."

Tenten snorted, very unladylike, and forcefully dug her spoon into the almost empty ice cream carton, imagining it was Neji's smug face. "My feelings wouldn't make a difference." she answered sadly.

"For what it's worth," Ino picked up the whip cream canister and sprayed a large amount into her open mouth. She swallowed and licked her lips for stray cream. "I think Neji likes you. A _lot_."

"Impossible." Tenten replied with finality, jabbing the ice cream again. "Hyuuga Neji doesn't believe in love."

"He sounded like he liked you." Sakura frowned into her reflection in the spoon. "He sounded _really_ jealous."

"Your imagination." was the dejected response.

"Ok, if he doesn't like you," Ino flipped back her long blonde hair, "why was he trying to kiss you while you guys were alone in his room?"

Tenten's lips parted and she turned to Hinata with a slashing look. "_How could you?_"

Hinata's eyes were wide. "I-I d-didn't—"

"Don't blame Hinata." Sakura said. "It's pretty easy to figure out. You came down looking dazed and Neji kept giving Naruto, and some of us too, death glares."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that time."

"'That time'?" Sakura repeated slowly, as if tasting the words on her tongue. "_He tried kissing you before too?_"

With stunning realization, Tenten cursed herself. She'd given away her own secret. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!_ "Um, it was only once." she grimaced at Ino and Sakura's eager looking faces.

"This _proves_ he likes you!" Ino squealed. "If he didn't like you then why would he try to kiss you _twice?_"

"Because he's hormonal." Tenten replied, thinking logically. "We're in high school and he has a million fan girls who are ten times prettier than me, why would he like me?"

Sakura whistled. "That's something and it proves something else: He has a million fan girls but he only tried to kiss _you_."

"T-the only time I see Neji-niisan with a girl is w-when he's with y-you, Tenten," Hinata offered, a hesitant smile on her face. "You're p-probably the only girl he f-feels comfortable spending t-time w-with."

Tenten groaned. "Let's get off this subject now." All the things they said were getting her hopes up and when Neji finally told her the truth she knew all of these little words of encouragement would be crushed into a million little pieces. "So, Ino, what are you going to do about Shikamaru?" She changed the subject tactfully and turned to the blonde expectantly.

Ino sighed into her spoon. "I don't know. Does he like anyone right now?"

"I d-don't think so . . ." Hinata frowned in thought.

"He used to go out with Temari," Tenten mused, "and I think she wants him back."

Ino stiffened. _Temari wants Shikamaru back?_

"No," Sakura murmured in disbelief, "they broke up before Temari left for Tokyo U! I remember he said long distance was too _troublesome_."

"Do you think he wants to get back together with her?" Ino asked.

"Who knows?" Tenten said, giving the blonde a smile. "I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"H-how did you know that Temari wants Shikamaru back?" Hinata asked, slightly mystified.

Tenten licked her spoon thoroughly before responding. _They're going to make this out as more than it is, I know they are._ "Gaara and I have been emailing for a while." she replied nonchalantly. An odd look appeared on the Hyuuga heiress's face and Sakura's mouth dropped open in absolute shock.

"Oh my god," Ino shook her head and pressed her fingertips to her temples.

"It's _not_ what you think." Tenten said flatly. "We're just friends."

"He didn't want to be '_just friends_' last year," Sakura muttered, "and he probably still likes you."

"How did this turn from Ino to me again?"

"Your life is more interesting." Sakura shrugged. "What do you guys talk about?"

Tenten shrugged. "Stuff."

Hinata frowned at her. "T-that's not very specific." she said accusingly.

Tenten's brown eyes widened slightly. _Hinata's never talked like that before, is it because of Neji?_ "Gaara and I are just _friends_."

"Huh," Ino murmured, running her fingers through her hair, "I heard that Gaara and Kankurou are coming back to our school . . ."

"Really?" Tenten asked, her mood instantly rising.

"Aha!" Ino screamed, pointing at her. "You _like_ Gaara, don't you?"

"N-no!" she yelled back, a blush creeping up her cheeks. _I should've kept my mouth shut! Crap!_

XXXXX

Neji stopped dead in his tracks outside Hinata's room when he heard Ino scream that question, hand upon the door knob. On the other side of the door Tenten was saying no with some desperation, but Neji wondered . . . Was she lying? If he could see her face he'd know but that wasn't the case at the moment. Gaara was a good, slightly insane, guy and he'd hear many of the girls at school, when Gaara _attended_ their school last year, talk highly of his good looks and quiet demeanor.

_Does Tenten have feelings for that guy?_ he wondered as jealousy (he absolutely _refused_ to acknowledge it though) inched its way through his blood. With force Neji threw open the door to Hinata's room, startling four unsuspecting teenage girls in the process. "Phone call for you," he threw the cordless phone to Hinata, "from Hanabi."

"T-thanks Neji-niisan." Hinata excused herself from her friends and walked into the adjoining bathroom of her room.

Which left Ino, Sakura and Tenten with Neji. Two of the girls gazed at him with apprehension and the other just gave him the cold shoulder.

"Ever learn how to _knock?_" Ino asked, icily, her light blue gaze raking over his cool form. "We were talking."

"Hn." He was _Hyuuga Neji_ and Hyuuga Neji didn't need to knock. Neji's look was glacial and he turned around and left without another word.

XXXXX

Ino slammed the door closed, hard, and huffed as she sat down. "I can't believe you can hang out with that guy, Tenten. He'd get on my nerves in a second with his stuck up ways."

Tenten laughed. "He's alright once you get to know him." She felt she had to give Neji some credit, but she didn't contradict what Ino mentioned about him; it was all true in a sense.

"S-sorry guys," Hinata returned from the bathroom with the phone in hand. "My sister called."

"So, Tenten," Sakura said slyly, "would you date Gaara if he asked you out?"

"Would you date Sasuke if he asked _you_ out?" Tenten asked, reversing the conversation.

The pink haired girl shrugged. "Maybe."

Hinata smiled. "J-just say yes, we all know you would."

They laughed as Sakura blush.

XXXXX

Tenten groaned as she stretched her sore body. Somehow she'd ended up sleeping on the floor, her body contortioned in such a way so that she fit underneath Hinata's desk. She gazed around the room and found her friends in varying positions on the floor. Her eyes traveled to the ice cream carton and it's friends on the floor, most certainly courting bacteria. Tenten sighed, she was the first one up as usual, and inched out from under the desk, picked up the carton and the other stuff they'd used last night to go with the ice cream and walked out Hinata's room towards the kitchen.

Her feet hit the cold tile and she shivered. Tenten found the trash can easily enough and she sighed while she threw in the trash. _Why was her relationship with Neji falling apart? Ok, so maybe she didn't think of him just as a friend anymore and maybe she wanted a more intimate relationship, but was it really that different from regular friendship? Besides making out and holding hands and all the other corny things couples did, it didn't seem so different. _She braced her hands on the marble counter and frowned. _But Neji didn't believe in love . . ._

"Tenten."

Her hands slipped and Tenten let out a gasp of surprise when she turned around. "Neji." she said quietly, narrowing her eyes at him. Pointedly she looked away and leaned back on her palms, waiting for him to say something.

"I'm sorry."

His apology hit her like a ton of bricks. _Oh my god._ Since when did _Hyuuga Neji_ apologize for _anything?_

"What?" she asked stupidly, her mouth gaping.

Neji frowned at her unladylike display. "I said I'm sorry." He pulled out something from behind his back and awkwardly gave it to her.

Tenten raised an eyebrow at him and looked at the chocolate fudge in her hand. _Something_ was definitely wrong here. The normal Neji would never think of this . . . Sweet way of saying he was sorry. No. Normal Neji would just get it over with and wouldn't repeat himself if she said she didn't understand. Neji _never_ liked to repeat himself under _any_ circumstances. Tenten eyed him oddly. He was close enough for her to see the worry and uncertainty in his eyes and the fact that he felt that way made her want to smile.

He frowned at her expression. Was he not forgiven? Tenten wasn't even giving in and tasting any of it. _Damn you Gai . . . _"Is something wrong?" he asked coolly. Neji didn't like that look in her eye.

"You just apologized to me," Tenten said worriedly, dramatically pressing her palm against his cheek. "Are you feeling alright?"

Neji batted her hand away irritably. "Of course I'm alright." Was she making fun of him?

Tenten grinned and opened her box of fudge, picking out a piece and popping it into her mouth, closing her eyes as it seemed to melt on her tongue. "Ok," she said, "you're forgiven . . ." He could hear the 'but' coming. "But you have to do something for me right now."

"Hn."

Tenten took it as a cue to go ahead and ask.

"Kiss me."

XXXXX

A/N: So, this was boring and short compared to last chapter. Please review!


	10. The Best Day of My Life

A/N: Ah, I'm so sorry this is a day late! I've been super busy this past week, we just got back from Spring Break and they're working us like dogs already, so I haven't really had time to work on this. I apologize for spelling and grammer mistakes that are probably all over the place. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 10

XXXXX

Neji POV

_Did . . . Tenten just . . . Ask me to kiss her?_

_I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone or something. I just apologized and gave her chocolate fudge, all Gai's suggestion, and it also surprised me that I actually listened to Gai. Wow, he must know more than I give him credit for. I didn't think it would work so well but, obviously, Death knew something I didn't. I want to laugh. I can just imagine Gai trying to get dates and the girls running away from his freakishly large and bushy eye brows. Ha, ha, ha. _

_No._

_Must. _

_Focus._

XXXXX

All he could do was stare at Tenten dumbly, not moving closer to comply with her wish and not saying anything.

Tenten bit her lower lip and wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Why, oh, _why_ had she asked Neji to kiss her? She hadn't paid attention to her words, they just slipped out and she wished she could take them all back. Neji was staring at her blankly and probably thought she had gone nuts. "Neji," she gazed at him awkwardly, "you don't have to if you don't want to." He didn't respond and her cheeks felt hot. "Um, ok, I'm going to just g—" She made a desperate run for the stairs but he whipped his hand out and caught her arm.

Neji licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He was flustered. _Speak, you idiot, speak!_ his brain screamed at him. _Form coherent words to form a sentence you idiot! _The silence stretched and Neji didn't know what to do. Tenten was looking at him, her brown eyes wide and questioning, waiting for him to say something. Anything. _Say something you incompetent, nitwit! Say something!_

"Wait."

_She can't go anywhere with your hand upon her arm, stupid!_

Neji hated his thoughts at the moment.

He tugged Tenten towards him and she complied slowly, an uncertain expression flickering across her face. His hands slid up her arms till he was cupping her face in his hands and Neji hesitantly pressed his lips to hers in a kiss.

The box of fudge dropped from her hands as she ran them up his chest, finally locking them behind his neck. Tenten felt his tongue brush along her lower lip in question and she parted her mouth for him. She felt Neji's hands fall from her neck and face to rest lower, spanning her waist. His fingers were cool as they touched her skin and Tenten practically welded her body to his while he ran his tongue inside her mouth.

Her mouth tasted like chocolate and Neji could feel Tenten tangling her fingers in his long, dark hair. He never imagined that she could be such a wonderful kisser; this far exceeded his 'youthful' (Lee and Gai would be proud to know he'd used their favorite word) fantasies by far. He could sense she needed to breathe so he took her face in his hands and separated them with irresistible force.

Tenten was blushing and breathing hard, her chest rising and falling as she stared at him. "Wow," she breathed, "you beat Shikamaru by a mile."

A frown instantly appeared on Neji's face as memories of last night replayed themselves inside his head. "I should hope so." he replied severely.

"Do I sense a hint of jealousy, Neji?" Tenten smirked at him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Hn."

She grinned. "You _are_ jealous, aren't you?"

"I'm not the jealous type." Neji wondered why an insanely happy smile appeared on her face.

"So," she leaned in, her mouth inching towards his. Neji moved to cover her mouth with his but Tenten suddenly jerked back with a devious look. "If I kissed Sasuke or Shikamaru or Naruto or Kiba or Shino or Gaara—" Neji's frown deepened at Sasuke, Shikamaru and Gaara's names, he was also a bit irritated with her false lead. "You wouldn't be jealous?"

"Hn." Of course not. He'd just rip them all to bloody pieces and bury their mangled bodies under a tree, but that was only if they could get close enough to her.

"I should get back upstairs to Hinata's room." Tenten pried his hands off her waist and gave him a peck on the cheek. "We'll talk about this later, Neji."

"Hn."

XXXXX

When she arrived in front of Hinata's door she could hear a mad scrabbling sound and Tenten quietly opened the door, peeking inside. Ino, Sakura and Hinata were still sleeping only—the positions they were now in weren't the same ones they had been in when she left.

"How much did you guys hear?" Tenten asked, leaning heavily against the door frame. No answer. "_Hinata _. . ." she said dangerously.

"O-only some o-of it." the Hyuuga admitted guiltily from under a pillow.

Tenten nodded and asked, "How much did you _see?_"

Ino whipped off the blanket on her head, a huge smile plastered on her and Sakura's faces.

"That looked like the most romantic kiss, Tenten!" Sakura exclaimed, a far off look in her eye. "And he even _apologized_ about the argument you guys had last night! He _must_ love you!"

"Yeah," Ino smirked, "apologies are un-Neji-like behavior. I'm surprised it took you guys this long to get together."

Hinata nodded in agreement as Tenten closed the door while blushing red like a cherry.

"Neji never said he loves me—"

"I-it's probably implied w-with t-the kiss, Tenten." Hinata said, smiling at her friend fondly. _I've always wanted her as a sister-in-law . . ._ The Hyuuga shook her head and frowned. That was thinking too far ahead into the future. "You and Neji-niisan l-look good together."

Tenten rolled her eyes skyward but appreciated the compliment. "Ok, enough about me and Neji, what are we doing today?"

"Hey!" Ino grabbed her rhinestone encrusted cell phone from her bag, flipped it open, and began looking through her numbers. "We can go to that new café! I think it's called Café Aka Tsuki or something—"

Tenten stiffened, though it went unnoticed.

"It's a place for _couples_, Ino," Sakura said, frowning, "people will think we're 'together'."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "_Obviously,_ we'll invite the guys to come with us. What do you think Hinata? You'll get to be with Naruto."

"I-I don't t-think a-anything . . ." she stammered, biting her lower lip. Hinata was actually pretty happy she'd get to spend more time with Naruto. Her childhood crush on him, plus the fact that she admired him a lot, had morphed into something more and she loved when they spent time together . . . Even if Naruto was really dense and couldn't see that she liked him.

"Right . . ." Tenten murmured. "I think I'm going to get out of this one you guys."

"Why?" Sakura asked suspiciously, narrowing her jade eye at her.

"I'm just not in the mood." The first time she and Neji had gone in there had been awkward and almost disastrous in her opinion and she was not eager to repeat it. _But we weren't together then . . . I guess . . . I still don't know where we are right now. Must. Ask. Neji. Later._ "You guys go ahead, I'll just stay here or something."

"No! You have to come too!" Sakura yelled.

"Hey," Ino said slyly, waggling her eyebrows suggestively, "are you and Neji going on a _private_ date of your own?"

Tenten grabbed a pillow from the floor and threw it at the blonde, blushing.

XXXXX

Neji expected the phone call and grudgingly picked up, careful to hold it away from his ear.

"_Neji-kun I'm so proud of you! You and Tenten, all that friendship and longing for five incredibly long, agonizing, torturous years, you are finally together!_"

"Gai," he rubbed his temples, "we aren't dating." _Yet, _his mind said, _not dating yet._

"No?" Gai asked, his mood dampening a little. "Well you'll just have to fix that! I'm sure she'll say yes and when she does it means I won't have to kill you again!"

"Hn." Only Gai could talk about killing someone with such a cheery tone of voice.

"So, did you take my suggestion and give her chocolate?"

"Hn." As if he'd admit it.

"Good," Gai murmured, "and I assume it worked since you two kissed."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Neji said briskly. "I'm hanging up."

"_Ok!_" Gai said, a hint of a smile behind his voice. "_But don't do anything un-youthful with Tenten!_"

Neji hung up with agitation and frowned at his phone.

What exactly was Gai implying?

XXXXX

"Are you _sure_ you're o-ok s-staying here by yourself?" Hinata asked, holding her bag awkwardly at her side and gazing at Tenten in question. "I-I'll stay if you w-want me to—"

"_No._" Tenten replied firmly. "I don't want you to miss your chance with Naruto. You guys go and have fun with them at the café, ok? I'm just going to stay here, maybe sleep . . . Or something." She waved her hands and they trooped unwillingly out the door.

"Are you _really_ sure?" Sakura asked.

"_Yes._" the brown eyed girl answered, exasperated beyond belief.

Ino pushed Sakura out the door. She turned to Tenten with a sly smile and whispered, "I know having a hot, sexy guy around the house is temptation enough, especially when you two are alone, so, don't do anything _I_ wouldn't do, ok?"

Tenten looked at her skeptically. "You'd do _a lot_ of things, Ino . . ."

The blonde winked in response and pranced out the door.

Tenten closed the door and leaned against it, rubbing her right shoulder. They all had such 'inventive' ideas on why she wanted to stay at the Hyuuga house, with _Neji_, but they were all off . . . Somewhat. She sighed. _What am I going to do till they come back?_ Tenten walked into the kitchen, grabbed a carton of strawberry ice cream and sat down at the kitchen table with a spoon. She grinned at it and dug right in; it was nice not having to fight with three other girls just to get to the ice cream.

XXXXX

Neji's head drooped in the shower stall and he lifted his head into the spray.

He had enjoyed Tenten's kiss that morning, more than enjoyed it, and it was sort of appalling to him that he wanted more from her. It was only a request, possibly to fulfill the dare from last night, but she said they would talk about it later, whatever that meant. Neji rinsed his long dark hair and thought. It wasn't until _after_ this entire Death affair that he began having feelings of attraction towards Tenten and it was weird. Was he just taking advantage of her because he needed to find his love so he wouldn't die? _No,_ he thought, _I'd never do that to her . . . That's not the reason . . ._

Neji shut off the water with a frown. He stepped out, picked up his towel and began drying himself off. _I don't love her, I don't think I do at least, but I don't think I like her as just a friend either . . . _He absently pulled on a pair of boxers and a pair of black faded jeans. He laid a white shirt on his bed. _How do you tell where the line between being friends and being more than friends is? _Neji didn't understand why emotions were so confusing.

He'd heard the girls go out the door before he started showering so he was a little surprised, and angry, to find Tenten sitting at the kitchen table, alone, eating ice cream.

"Tenten."

She turned, spoon in her mouth, to look at him. "Oh, hi Neji," she said, giving the eating utensil a lick.

"Did they leave you?" he demanded, somewhat angry.

"Of course not." Tenten answered hotly. "I didn't want to go to Café Aka Tsuki _again_. That place was too pink for me."

"Hn." He could understand.

"So . . ." Tenten's gaze roamed over him and Neji gave her a look of confusion as she smirked. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Neji looked down and seemed a little bewildered to see bare skin instead of the white shirt he had picked out only moments before. She grinned like a Cheshire cat and found the confused look upon his face adorable. And his chest was amazing to stare at too. Neji crossed his arms loosely across his chest, a way to cover his lack of dress, and it only made Tenten's grinned even wider. "It's not like you have anything up there to hide," she teased.

"Hn." he replied, glaring at her. How could he have forgotten to _put on a freaking shirt?_ He'd been so absentminded lately, what was happening to him?

"Want to go out with me somewhere?" she asked, a smile blooming on her face.

Neji was quite taken with it. "Where?"

"I don't know." Tenten shrugged. "We'll decide once we get out the door or something."

He frowned. "Alright."

XXXXX

Tenten tried to ignore the fact that Neji was holding her hand, her arm was tingling from the physical contact, and tried to focus on the fact that he looked very, very sick. They had decided to go to an amusement park and there were roller coasters. She loved the damn things so Neji said it'd be alright to go on them, but by the third one he was looking a little queasy . . . So now they were sitting on a bench and Neji was trying to keep his stomach down. He seemed to be winning the fight against vomiting all over his shoes. She'd never seen him so . . . Sick? Un-cool-like? She didn't know, but she did know now that he could _not_, absolutely could not handle roller coasters.

Tenten rubbed his back and it seemed to help a little. "Neji?" A grunt in response. "Do you want to lie down?"

"On a bench?" he asked. "It'd be uncomfortable."

She rolled her eyes. Tenten hooked an arm around his neck and forcefully dragged his head down till it rested on her lap. Neji tensed up but she only smiled down at him. "Just relax ok? We can get going when you feel better." _Wow, to some on-looker we look like a couple . . ._

Once again, he found himself enthralled by her smile, and once again he was complying to her wishes. Neji turned onto his back and didn't mind that she began playing with his hair. It was nice. He traced the back of her hand with his thumb. "What did you mean when you said 'We'd talk about this later'?" he asked, looking up into her face.

"I don't know." she shrugged. "Is it normal for friends to kiss each other?" Tenten bit her lower lip and stared down into his beautiful white eyes. "I don't really _want_ to be friends anymore . . ."

Neji stopped his ministrations and sat up. "What are you talking about?"

"It's just—" _How_ did she explain this to him? Telling Ino, Sakura and Hinata had been easy because they immediately understood, but to tell Neji that she liked him, _a lot_, and that she wanted to go out with him from now, even though he said he didn't have emotions associated with love and 'like' was definitely in that category, was really hard. "Neji, I—" It would be so much simpler if they stayed friends, but she wasn't satisfied with their platonic relationship now.

_What if he doesn't like me that way? _Neji's white eyes were fixed intently on her own and she slowly felt herself falling into their mesmerizing color. _What if we got together and things ended badly . . . _She _definitely_ didn't want that to happen. Her mouth was parted but words wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried the words wouldn't form themselves and she was silent. _Oh god, what am I doing?_

Neji held back the grin as he watched Tenten's face go from confusion to resignation and back. Words seemed to elude her and the look on her face was priceless; he wished he had a camera. But this was no time to be funny. _She doesn't want to be friends anymore? _He wouldn't let her go even if she hated him. He couldn't. Neji knew he was selfish, very much so, but he needed her.

If she couldn't _say_ how she felt she'd show him instead. _Relax. You can do this._ Tenten placed her hand on the back of his neck, his eyes trailed up her arm till they reached her eyes, questioning, and she kissed him.

This kiss was a lot gentler than their first but no less passionate. Her lips yielded to his and he immediately deepened the kiss, running the tips of his fingers up and down her arm. Tenten's heart rate was on over drive and the feeling he evoked made her feel like electricity was rushing through her skin.

When she pulled away, Tenten licked her lips and tasted him. Neji's eyes had been closed, but they opened now and she was startled by the light in his eyes.

"Hn . . ." he murmured.

"Is that all you can say?" she asked, totally frustrated with his lack of emotion.

"You're a very good kisser." Neji commented absently.

"Practice makes perfect."

"I hope you haven't been 'practicing' on Shikamaru."

"No," a look akin to relief passed over Neji's face and Tenten frowned thoughtfully, "it was Sasuke." He was instantly glaring at her and she said quickly, "I'm kidding!" Tenten gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and yanked on his hand. "Let's go!"

XXXXX

He didn't like sweet things, but Tenten adored them. Neji grudgingly tasted a little of her strawberry crepe drizzled over with chocolate and admitted it was good. Her face positively glowed and she swiped her finger over the whipped cream dollop on top of her French treat and stuck it in her mouth. Tenten rolled her eyes at the look he gave her: it was _clearly_ one that said her actions weren't dignified and 'lady-like'.

"Take another bite," she said, holding out the crepe. "You _know_ you want to . . ."

"No." he said flatly. "I don't like sweet things."

Tenten took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "True. Hey, Neji—" She stopped mid-sentence as he moved closer and licked some strawberry syrup from the edge of her lips. Her eyes widened in surprise and noticed the faint pink color ghosting across his face afterwards. He looked aghast at his own actions, and she was a little shocked too. _So un-Neji-like _. . . She was going to enjoy his explanation of _this_.

He hadn't even thought about it, he just _saw_ it there and, of his own compulsion, he had gone ahead and licked it off her skin. It was so _wanton_, totally unlike him. Neji didn't know what had come over him, but he did know it was _all_ Tenten's fault for looking so . . . _Desirable_. He had never felt that urge before; it was so foreign. What was she _doing_ to him?

"I'm sorry, Tenten," he was doing more apologizing to her _today _than he'd done in all his eighteen years combined, "I don't know what came over me."

She shook her head and her brown eyes were bright. "Don't apologize," she linked her fingers through his, "it was spontaneous. I like this new side of you." Tenten smirked. "_Normal Neji _would never do something like that in a million years."

"'Normal Neji'?" he asked, slightly perturbed. "Is that your new nickname for me?"

"It's a nickname, but it certainly isn't new," she replied absently, intent on finishing the rest of her crepe instead.

Neji frowned. "Are you the only one who uses that . . . _name?_" he demanded, becoming irritated in her nonchalance. If word of this got around he would most definitely be subjected to Lee or Naruto's creative imaginations and they'd think of asinine nick names for him too.

"Usually . . ." she replied carefully, cringing from his thunderous expression. "Neji! Don't worry, it's only Hinata, Sakura and . . . Ino . . ."

He gave a 'hn' of indignation.

Tenten sighed. "You're angry."

"Hn."

She tugged on his long dark hair enough so that he turned to face her, stoic and irritated. "I'm sorry." she said sincerely before pressing her lips to his. Her arms wrapped around his waist, careful not to get her crepe on his clothes, and she felt his hands go around her as he kissed her back.

It was bliss, absolute bliss, until the perfect moment was ruined by a cell phone.

Neji pulled back and reached into the pocket of his jeans. _Huh,_ he barely glanced at the number and shoved it back into his jeans, _probably Gai wanting to know if Tenten and I did anything un-youthful or something._ He glanced at Tenten, she looked back at him calmly, and gave her a slight smile. It totally threw her off.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked suspiciously, taking a step backward.

He grabbed Tenten's hand and tugged her towards him. "Nothing, let's get back to the house."

XXXXX

She walked through the door of the Hyuuga house alone and was immediately bombarded with the questions of three excited girls. So _this_ was what Neji had been casually avoiding by saying he wanted to keep walking and would return later. Tenten had forgotten that Ino, Sakura and Hinata would be back from their dates with Sasuke, Shikamaru and Naruto and would start demanding details of her and Neji's own excursion.

"D-did you have a g-good t-time, Tenten?"

"Did he _kiss_ you again!?"

"Did he ask you to be his _girlfriend!?_"

Tenten grinned. "Yes to the first and second, but—"

Sakura looked downcast. "Neji didn't ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"Are you _serious?_" Ino asked incredulously. "I was so sure he would!"

Hinata tentatively tapped the blonde and the pink-haired girl on the shoulders and, for the first time, she wore a smirk upon her pale face. "Pay up."

"_You guys bet on whether or not Neji would ask me out!?_" Tenten screamed, pissed off beyond measure. "_I can't believe you!_" She pointed a shaky finger at Hinata. "_You especially!_"

"I can't believe I lost it." Ino frowned. "I was so sure he'd ask you Tenten!"

Tenten glared at her and turned to Hinata. "How'd you know he wouldn't ask?"

The Hyuuga shrugged. "I-I know Neji-niisan."

XXXXX

Neji breathed a sigh of relief having dodged the million questions Tenten's friends, and his younger cousin, would have asked. It was much easier for him if he just let Tenten tell them everything. Minus the sickness on the roller coasters, overall, it had been one of the best days of his life and he received three lavish kisses too. Tenten had looked beautiful and when the jealous glares of other guys landed on him he had felt a satisfying delight in knowing that they envied him for being with her; he liked that they recognized she was with _him._

He pulled out his cell phone, looked at the missed call, and instantly breath left his lungs.

Hiashi's number appeared on the glowing screen.

"_Neji, you're obviously not picking up your phone so I'll make this message brief. I've decided to merge the company with another company owned by a prominent friend of mine. It will be done in contracts and through lawyers of course, but we both want something more permanent. He has a daughter, I've met her and she's quite beautiful, about your age, and we've decided to have to two participate in an omiai. Be ready to meet her when I come back in two weeks._"

Neji shut his phone while the initial shock wore off.

This has turned into the worst day of his life.

XXXXX

A/N: Ok, if you liked it please review.

Omiai - A formal date where both participants have the intention of finding someone to marry. (Sucks for Neji, huh?)


	11. Arguments and More Arguments

A/N: Yes, I know, everytime something GOOD happens to Neji and Tenten I always end it on a BAD note. What with them having a nice date and then Neji finding out he's going to have an arranged marriage! Yay!

Ok, I know this is late, but my finals are coming up and I really need to study (I think I bombed my last French test), so as a result, my updating pattern will be a little chaotic. I may update every week like I have been doing or I may update every other week. This is only temporary and I hope to update regularly once I finish school and am on Summer Vacation.

I didn't really fix this chapter up so there may be grammatical errors everywhere . . .

Disclaimer: I don't own.

XXXXX

Chapter 11

XXXXX

Neji POV

_Could my life suck anymore than it already does?_

_Hiashi wants me to get MARRIED!?_

_God, I don't want to marry some random, rich, spoiled, pretty (in Hiashi's opinion at least) . . . Girl I don't know. What could've affected Hiashi's mind to make me participate in an omiai? It's such an old practice . . . I don't want to do this, but I think I'll have to in the end._

_And I was having such a good day with Tenten . . ._

_What am I going to tell her?_

XXXXX

He decided that night, after hearing his messages, that he wouldn't talk to Tenten at all about the matter. It was best if she didn't know, but he forgot about her tenacity. After a week of successfully avoiding Tenten and all interactions with her, she finally cornered him behind the school building before his P.E. class.

"Why are you avoiding me?" she asked angrily, tapping the front of her shoe in slight irritation.

Neji crossed his arms across his chest. "I didn't feel like talking."

Tenten's brow furrowed. "If this is about what happened over the weekend—"

"No," he said, watching as her eyes narrowed, "not that."

"Then why won't you talk to me?" Tenten clenched her hands into fists, suppressing the urge to punch him in the face and kick him between the legs. She watched the way his eyes looked past her instead of at her and she knew something was up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that." she hissed. "I _know_you're lying to me."

Neji leaned against the building and looked at her, piercing Tenten with his impressive glare. "It's none of your business," he said severely, "just leave it alone."

Tenten bit her lip and held her hands behind her back so he wouldn't see her shaking. "If this is about—"

"I already told you it isn't."

"—what happened this weekend, then we can pretend it never happened if it makes you uncomfortable." She gazed at Neji's emotionless face and knew, instinctively, that he was holding something back. Something huge. "Do you regret that we kissed?" she asked, demanding an answer which he didn't supply. "Did that change our relationship in a way you didn't want? If that's what's bothering you then tell me. Or is it something else." He was silent as stone. "Does this have to do with that phone call you got?" A twitch in his eye. "It _does_, doesn't it?"

"Tenten," he said coldly, "I'm not interested in you that way. I think we should just remain friends." Neji didn't regret anything they'd done, he would never regret it. But he did regret that he'd have to hurt her. He could see his words slicing into her and he wished he could take it all back, but this was best. "This conversation is over. I'm leaving." She'd see that soon.

Tenten stood unmoving as he passed by her. What was _wrong_ with him? She whirled around, grabbed the back of his shirt, turned him around and pressed her lips to his. Neji wasn't responding; his lips were like stone. _Is this the same guy I kissed just two days ago?_

"If you don't like me," her heart twisted but she smiled ruefully, "then why did you kiss me back?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Neji replied coolly, "it won't ever happen again." There was a period of silence in which he simply stared at her, as if he was memorizing her face. "I'm sorry, Tenten."

It hit her so fast she wasn't even comprehending until he was practically twenty meters away, walking towards the track. Her eyes filmed over and she desperately tried to hold back her tears. Choosing between never seeing Neji again and just going back to being friends . . . The answer was obvious and Tenten knew they'd return to being friends. He didn't want her . . . She could understand that he didn't see anything exceptional in her.

Tenten wiped away the tears that had spilled over and began walking to her Japanese History class.

XXXXX

"Hey, Neji!" Naruto, dressed out in a pair of dark blue shorts and a white shirt, called to him in the locker room as they began getting ready for P.E. "I saw you and Tenten go behind the building earlier, did you two do s—" Neji gave him a slashing look and the blonde shut his mouth immediately, blue eyes going wide at the Hyuuga's chilling glare. "Um," Naruto looked around and saw Shikamaru. "I'm going to talk . . . To Shikamaru . . . Yeah . . ." He made his fast get away.

Neji was not in a good mood, everyone could see and they kept a careful distance. Everyone except Sasuke, who seemed in lighter spirits since the weekend. Neji still didn't know why. The Uchiha lingered idly beside his locker and Neji snarled in irritation when Sasuke asked why Tenten looked like she'd been crying.

"Did you make her cry?" Sasuke asked. The tone of voice he used made it seem like he'd already assumed that Neji was the source of Tenten's distress. And he was right.

"It's none of _your_ business, Uchiha." Neji snapped, his voice pure venom.

A round of silence rippled through the crowd of boys inside the locker room, all previous conversations had ceased, eager to know why two of the most popular guys in the school were about to have a fight.

"She's a friend," Sasuke replied, "and I don't appreciate you hurting her."

"A loosely used term." Neji said, extremely pissed off. "I was under the impression that your only 'friend' was the dobe." He jerked his head in the general direction of Naruto.

"Hey!" Naruto cried.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "_I'm_ the only one allowed to call him that."

"Yeah!" the blonde screamed. Naruto frowned for a moment and then he growled, "_Sasuke-teme_—"

"Shut it, dobe."

"_I'm going to kill you, teme!_" Naruto screamed as he launched himself towards Sasuke.

Neji rolled his eyes.

XXXXX

"I can't _believe_ he'd just blow you off like that!" Ino ranted, glaring daggers at the yearbook picture of Neji that she had brought out and colored all over in black ink. He now looked like a pirate and a transvestite mixed together and it made Tenten feel better . . . Somewhat. "That bastard will pay for what he did to you," she promised, shoving a sharp compass (the kind you use for math) into Neji's picture, more specifically his eye. "I'll kill him next time he comes around."

"We're in Hinata's house and Neji _lives_ here," Tenten drawled, absently sipping her Coke.

"How can you be so uncaring?" Sakura demanded. "The guy _broke you heart!_"

True, Neji had rejected her, but Tenten did not want to dwell on the heartbreak. Instead of going to her class after the incident she'd spent the period crying in a stall of the 2nd floor girls bathroom. When the bell had rung she'd been shocked when she stared at herself in the mirror afterwards; eyes and skin red and blotchy, her hair in disarray . . . This was not her. She wasn't the type to cry over something so trivial. She was stronger than that. She was better than that.

"I'm not going to waste away just because he rejected me," Tenten said coolly, "I'm going to move on. It's fine if he just wants to remain friends," _No! I promised myself I wouldn't cry! _She blinked excessively. "I can live with that."

"B-but you like Neji-niisan," Hinata said quietly, wringing her hands together as she shuffled her feet. "Don't you?"

Tenten shrugged. "He doesn't like me." _That ass hole! I can't believe he led me on like that when he didn't even like me! I can't believe I went along with it all too!_

"Let's lace his food with laxatives!" Ino suggested shrewdly. "That'll teach him!"

Sakura nodded in agreement. "We should trash his room and rip all his clothes to shreds too."

"Just drop it." Tenten said with a sigh. _Though it'd be funny . . . _"Let's talk about something else." There was silence as they tried to think of another topic for discussion. She sighed again. "I noticed that Sasuke was nicer today, any idea why?"

The pink-haired girl immediately blushed and Hinata smiled.

"Sasuke h-had a g-good day?" she asked shyly. "Is that t-the reason?"

Sakura smiled mysteriously but wouldn't say anything. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and unzipped her back pack to get out her school books.

"Oh come on." Ino said. "It's because you kissed him today, right?"

"Perhaps." Sakura meticulously began writing in her spiral notebook. "We have an exam tomorrow so we have to study—"

"Work, work, work," Ino said as she dropped her books onto the floor, "I can't wait for Spring Break."

Tenten frowned. "That's," she counted the days on her fingers. "A month and a half away."

"And I can't wait." Ino began copying Sakura's notes into her binder.

XXXXX

"Neji-kun!" Gai held out his arms as if to embrace. "What can I do to help you in your time of need?"

"Can you kill the girl I'm supposed to have the omiai with?"

Gai laughed. "Your sense of humor is refreshing—" He noticed the seriousness in Neji's eyes and lost all his mirth. "No, ah, I can't do that, Neji. It's against the rules to kill someone before their time." he answered. "When are you going to meet this girl?"

He was absolutely worthless. Neji glared at the floor. "My uncle will be here with her in a week, maybe a few days. Hiashi will decide if we get married then."

"Huh," Gai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This will be a problem. You can't find your true love if you already have a wife so that means I'll have to kill you on the day you get married . . ."

Neji scowled. Gai was already making plans to kill him and he hadn't even attend the omiai yet. He didn't like the idea of marrying a random girl, hated the fact that he'd die if he did even more. It was a lose-lose situation. _What if I meet this girl and I actually fall in love with her? _The absurd idea made him want to laugh.

"Hn." Neji said coldly. "Aren't you going to help me?"

Gai countered with his own questions. "Have you told Tenten about this? Was that why she was crying in the bathroom?"

_Tenten was crying in the bathroom?_ Neji kept his face expressionless. "I told her I wanted to remain friends. It's better that she doesn't know."

"So it won't hurt her?" he asked skeptically. "Neji, she'll find out eventually."

"I just—" Frustrated, Neji yanked a hand through his hair. He didn't want her to cry. He didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want to disappoint her. He wanted her to smile and be happy. If they had gotten together it would only have been for a few days since he'd have to marry because of Hiashi. Neji didn't want to sneak around with Tenten, it would be degrading for the both of them, because she deserved a person who would be free on all accounts. It would be as if he was cheating on her. "I'd rather she found out after the wedding."

"You're _really _going to get married at eighteen?" Gai asked incredulously.

"It's legal."

"But you love, Tenten!"

Neji corrected him tiredly, "I never said I _loved_ her."

"I see," Gai replied sadly. It was obvious to him and everyone else and Neji remained the only one in the dark. "If that's the case then you have a few weeks instead of the four months before I kill you. No doubt your uncle will marry you and the girl off quickly."

Neji stalked out of the classroom and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

XXXXX

"Neji-niisan, why are you hurting Tenten?" He was so surprised to hear no stutter in her voice that he didn't even comprehend the question she was asking. Hinata's eyes narrowed. "Neji-niisan . . ." she said darkly.

"I wasn't aware." he responded calmly. "Is it really any business of yours?"

"Of course it is!" she yelled heatedly. "She's one of my best friends! Don't you like her?"

From the kitchen, Hanabi watched them both.

"Hn." Feelings didn't matter anymore so his answer didn't either.

"Neji-niisan!"

"Hinata," Neji said coldly. "This is pointless." He lifted his eyes from her face to someone behind her. "Hiashi."

She turned around quickly and the breath in her lungs halted. "F-Father," Hinata's eyes went wide when he walked through the door, briefcase in hand. "You're back." Two servants went to his side immediately, taking his coat and things. Hanabi ran up to him and gave him a quick hug around the waist. "I thought you s-said it w-would t-take three weeks . . ."

"Negotiations went smoother than I anticipated," Hiashi shrugged out of his suit jacket and handed it off to a servant. "Neji, you'll be meeting the girl tonight for the omiai. Be sure to dress appropriately."

Neji nodded and disappeared to his room.

Hinata's mouth was agape in shock. "F-Father! Y-you're m-making Neji-niisan g-get married!?" Suddenly it all seemed so clear why Neji was distancing himself from Tenten. "W-with w-who?"

"You'll meet her tomorrow." was all her father said before walking towards his study.

Hinata bit her lip, bowed, and then ran up the stairs to Neji's room. She knocked on his door, practically banged on it, and it opened a crack and he quickly yanked her inside.

"Don't you _dare_ tell Tenten," Neji hissed as he gripped her arms. "Do you understand me?"

"N—" She gasped in pain as his grip tightened. "Why would you keep something like this from her?" Hinata asked. "She'd understand why you rejected her if she knew!"

"It doesn't matter." he said with finality. "Don't tell her."

"Neji-niisan," she said sadly, "you really like Tenten, don't you?"

Neji shoved her away from him. "Does it _matter?_"

Hinata closed her eyes. "It would matter to _her_."

He stared at his bedroom wall for a few seconds before answering. "I need to get ready for the omiai," Neji pointed to the door. "Leave."

XXXXX

Hinata picked up the phone, her fingers hovered above the key pad, and then she put it down with a deep sigh. She couldn't do it. She couldn't tell Tenten about Neji's possible arranged marriage; it would kill her. Hinata also wanted to comply to Neji's demand because she could see where he was coming from, but still . . .

She took a deep breath and grabbed her coat.

XXXXX

Her hand shook and Hinata sagged against the door to Tenten's apartment. _I came all the way here and I still can't tell her. _Hinata brought her legs to her chest and bowed her head against her knees. _I know Ino or Sakura would have no trouble telling Tenten about something like this. I wish I had their courage and tenacity . . ._

"Hinata?"

She gasped and looked up into blue eyes and blonde hair. Naruto was smiling down at her with his hands on his knees and an orange jacket around his waist.

"N-Naruto-kun!" she breathed, surprised at seeing him here. Heat flooded her cheeks and she smiled hesitantly. "A-are you v-visiting T-Tenten, too?"

He helped her up. "The teme lives in this building and we were playing video games." Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave her a boyish grin. "What are you doing here, Hinata-chan?"

"I-I'm here t-to v-visit, Tenten, but . . ."

"Is she not there?" Naruto inquired lightly. "I'll ring the doorbell—"

"No!" Hinata grabbed his arm and tugged it back before he could touch the door and she blushed furiously at her boldness and the physical contact. "I-it's ok, Naruto-kun. I-I don't t-think I-I'll visit tonight."

He stared at her in surprise and lowered his arm. "Ok, well, are you leaving now?" Naruto untied the jacket at his waist and began putting it on.

"Y-yes, I think so . . ."

"Great!" he said, giving her another smile; it made her heart stop for a moment. "I'll walk you home, Hinata-chan!" She began stuttering, saying she didn't want to inconvenience him, but Naruto purposefully linked his arm with hers and began walking out of the apartment building. "I won't rest easy unless I know you've been taken care of," he said. "There are tons of weirdoes here and any one of them would love to take a pretty girl like you off to who-knows-where." Hinata blushed at his compliment and gave him a small smile. "Plus Neji would kill me if anything happened to you!" Naruto added cheerily.

She gave a nervous laugh. "I-I'm sure Neji-niisan w-wouldn't k-kill you—"

"I wouldn't put it past him to try." Naruto said ruefully. "But we both know," he winked and her blush intensified, "that I could kick his ass any day."

"I-I t-think you would, Naruto-kun."

Hinata flashed him a brilliant smile and Naruto found himself a little stunned at its beauty.

"Um," he groped for a conversation topic, "how's your head? You hit it pretty hard on our date."

"I-it's f-fine . . ." Hinata said, quite embarrassed as she touched her forehead tenderly. "T-thank you for h-helping me." In the foyer of the café she'd slipped because Naruto had hit her again with one of his smiles and banged her head against a table before he managed to catch her. The incident was burned into her memory as a moment of mortification never to be repeated again.

Naruto patted her arm affectionately. "No problem, Hinata-chan. I'll always be there for you!" He looked up suddenly and stopped. "Here's your house, so you should go inside."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said quietly, looking down at her feet, "I really a-appreciate it." He moved quickly and laid a chaste kiss on her cheek. Hinata looked up, stunned, into Naruto's smiling face.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hinata-chan!" he replied quickly before running off and disappearing around the corner.

She tentatively reached a hand up to touch the place he'd kissed and heat flooded her face as she smiled to herself. _Naruto-kun . . ._

XXXXX

Neji tied back his hair in a loose pony tail and tugged on the collar of his white dress shirt. He wasn't eager to meet this girl and tried to delay himself as much as possible by trying on five different shirts and changing his shoes three times. He looked at himself one last time in the mirror, satisfied that he looked presentable, and walked out the door.

XXXXX

Hiashi met him at the front of the restaurant and Neji followed him wordlessly to a private room in the back he had reserved for the omiai. He wished he could drag his feet like a reluctant school boy, but he was too old and too well brought up to do such a thing; it would only prolong the inevitable and Neji would rather get this entire ordeal over with quickly.

"Hiashi-sama, your guests are waiting." a hostess held open the door and Hiashi walked right in.

Neji stepped over the threshold. A man seated at the table was talking heatedly with a young blonde woman, also seated. A few more words were exchanged which left the man looking rather exasperated and the girl scowling . . . Until she caught sight of him. The scowl disappeared, replaced with a look of shock and mortification.

All Neji could do was stare and she lifted a shaking hand and pointed at him.

"You."

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A/N: Yeah, Neji and Tenten's relationship is pretty much screwed up right now, but it gets better . . . Later. But there was some NaruHina fluff! And, um, you'll get to find out who the girl is next chapter! Please review!


	12. Surprises are Unexpected

A/N: Wow, it's been two weeks. First FF was acting weird and then I lost the chapter in a freak storm so this particular chapter has had a lot of setbacks. It's not the greatest thing in the world, probably riddled with grammer/spelling mistakes, but it's going to bring about some change. Thanks for waiting and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 12

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Neji POV

_I'm trying not to scratch out my eyes and bang my head against the wall right now because this situation is even more horrible than I anticipated. Hiashi is talking with the other man and do I detect a hint of a smile on his face? This sucks. A lot._

_And the girl!_

_Good god she's a friend of Tenten's . . ._

XXXXX

Tenten leaned out her small balcony in time to catch a glimpse of bright blonde hair and Hinata. She'd heard them talking outside her door and it had been tempting to open it and surprise Hinata, but when Naruto offered to walk her home it just seemed too romantic to interrupt. _She's so lucky to like a guy who's so nice and considerate . . ._ Tenten glowered as Neji's stoic face popped into her mind. _ I like a guy who's cold and an ass to boot. _

She walked into the living room of her small, but cozy, apartment and began closing her textbooks, finished with her homework. _I deserve something for handling his rejection so well. _She ignored the fact that she had been crying in a bathroom.

What did Ino call it?

Oh yes.

Retail therapy.

XXXXX

Her hand was poised over a red kimono-like silk shirt decorated with black and gold dragons outlined in a dark gold thread, an ocher color. The price was 25,000 yen (very expensive). The material was smooth and flowed through her fingertips like water and her hand unconsciously moved to her back pocket to grab her wallet, but she sighed and dropped her hand. Even if she _did_ want it she didn't have that much money to spend on a shirt. Tenten walked out of the lavish store, _Kaitsuka_, and idly began strolling down the sidewalk.

Couples holding hands, laughing and kissing, walked by her and Tenten wondered if the whole world was mocking her. _No, it's not other people's fault that Neji is such a stupid, idiotic, loser, jack ass, b—_

"Tenten?"

She stumbled over her own feet and found herself tumbling down face first to meet hard concrete but someone's hand shot out just in time and now she was being cradled against a random person's chest. A _guy's_ chest. Tenten looked up into a pale face, semi-short red hair and light green eyes outlined by dark liner. _Oh my god . . . Is that . . ._

"_Gaara?_" she asked incredulously. "What are _you_ doing here?" He let her go and she tried not to blush at his dashing good looks.

"Temari, Kankurou and I are back from China. We'll be staying here for a few months."

Gaara didn't elaborate on the reason why he was here but Tenten was just glad he was.

"Do you want to go somewhere to catch up?" she asked brightly, giving him a winning smile.

Gaara took her hand in his and she started blushing the moment their hands touched. "Do you have a particular place you want to go?"

"No." Tenten was surprised how . . . Breathless her voice sounded.

"Do you want to just walk around?"

"Ok." His hand felt warm as it held hers and she smiled.

XXXXX

"I didn't know it was _you_ I had to have this damn omiai with," she murmured hotly, 'accidentally' jabbing him with her elbow under the table. "I can't _stand_ you, Hyuuga."

"Right now," he whispered back, kicking her shin, "the feeling is mutual." He was not about to be beaten down by some girl.

Temari bit back the urge to stick her tongue out at him, it would seem very immature, and instead focused on knocking salt into his food. The white substance coated his rice and miso soup and she was satisfied when he was stumped for a moment on how to get her back.

"Temari!" Baki slammed his fist upon the table and she winced. "Stop that!"

"Yes sir." she mumbled grudgingly.

Baki gave her one more cold glance and then resumed speaking with Hyuuga Hiashi.

"It's your own fault," Neji said coolly as a new bowl of rice was placed down before him by a waiter. "You got caught." He smirked at her infuriated expression, taking a bite of food.

"You _son of a b—_"

"_Language_, Temari-san." he scolded lightly.

She was seeing red and was about to launch herself at the taciturn Hyuuga, never mind the fact that she'd seem like a barbarian, but Baki coughed harshly and she turned at the sound.

Hiashi folded his hands under his chin and regarded them both mutely. "We've decided that you two shall be married in a month. Even though there are some _problems_ between you," he cast Neji a pointed glance, "we believe you two can work them out like adults in the coming days. I expect you both to go to appointments and be on time for dinners and functions for our companies. Understood?"

Temari shot Baki a death glare, he conveniently looked away, and clenched her teeth together. "Yes."

Reluctantly, Neji also said yes.

His mouth felt like it was full of sand.

XXXXX

"I'm surprised you're in Japan." Tenten licked her vanilla ice cream cone and stared at him accusingly. "You never mentioned coming back in your emails."

Gaara shrugged. "It was sudden after Hyuuga—"

"What?" she asked, startled. "_Neji!?_"

"No." Gaara brushed his flaming red hair to the side since it obscured his vision. There was a slight frown marring his calm features. "Hyuuga _Hiashi_ came to my father and said they should merge companies because we'll make more profit that way. My father said yes and sent my brother and I along with Baki and Temari to finalize the deal."

"Deal?"

He looked at her in surprise. "I thought you and Hyuuga are best friends, don't you know?"

"Know what?" she asked warily.

"Temari and Neji are getting married."

She choked on her ice cream cone.

XXXXX

"_Temari?_ And _Hyuuga Neji!?_" Ino screamed, stamping her foot on the ground. "Getting _married!?_ It's not possible!"

Tenten tried not to feel so dejected and forced a smile. "I don't know if it's true or not, but why would Gaara lie?" She desperately wanted it to be false, but . . .

"He might still like you," Sakura scrutinized her writing and erased a smudge her arm had made on the crisp white paper. "So he could've been lying." she said reasonably.

"Gaara's not like that." Tenten replied seriously. She'd never doubt his words in another case, but this was so sudden and unexpected. Why hadn't Neji told her himself? He hadn't been to school in a week and she was beginning to worry. Was he sick? Was he hurt? The questions clawed at her insides and she knew she would visit him soon, but the sharp pain of rejection was still fresh. _He's your best friend! So what if he kissed you then kicked you to the curb and decided to marry some other girl, he's still your friend!_

Tenten inwardly fumed. She would _not_ go visit Neji. Screw him.

"Hey . . ." Ino sat down beside her and nudged her side. "Do you _like_ Gaara?"

"I don't know." Tenten murmured. On their meeting they had walked around the city, visited Tokyo Tower, he'd bought her ice cream and they watched the sunset together in the park. It had been romantic and she had had fun with him. "He's a nice guy." she said, seeing him in her mind's eye. He was so good looking . . . And sweet too . . .

"You guys should go out." Ino said simply. "Everyone thought you two would make a cute couple before, the only reason we never said anything was because we thought _Neji_," his name left her mouth with disdain, "would ask you out but seeing as how we were wrong . . ."

Sakura frowned. "It doesn't make any sense though. Why would Neji suddenly go and decide to marry _Temari _of all people? She likes Shikamaru and he likes—he doesn't like anyone."

"Have you asked Hinata about this?" their blonde friend asked, blowing her bangs out of her face absently.

"She hasn't been at school either and I can't get a hold of her over the phone." Tenten scrubbed her hands over her face and groaned. "What do you think I should do?"

Ino said, "Forget about Hyuuga and go out with Gaara." right when Sakura said, "Ask Ino."

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it."

XXXXX

Tenten sat alone in her apartment and stared at a familiar picture on top of her kitchen counter. Everyone was there but her eyes were immediately drawn to her own face and the one beside it. Neji glowered at the camera while she had pulled on his hair and laughed as Lee, on his other side, slung an arm over his shoulder and moved in to kissed him on the cheek. Neji was not pleased. Naruto and Kiba thought it would be funny if they spiked Lee's drink and it was.

Her heart constricted slightly and she slammed the photo down. The glass frame cracked, she heard it, and Tenten ran her fingers through her bangs.

_What am I doing?_ Her vision blurred and she fiercely held back the tears. _I won't cry. I won't cry!_

The doorbell rang and she turned towards the sound instantly. Tenten quickly walked to the door and opened it to find a slightly disgruntled Gaara and his older brother Kankurou, looking quite smug and ruffling his younger brother's hair. Kankurou had grown since the last time she saw him and his dark hair sat upon his head in wild spikes, a little like Naruto's. There was a smirk on his face and Gaara scowled.

"Kankurou? Gaara?" she asked, confused as to why they were here.

Kankurou started snickering. "_Gaara_ couldn't remember how to get to your apartment building so I had to come with him here," he pinched his brother's cheek between his fingers and dodged the punch that came sailing towards his head. "Isn't he cute when he's flustered?"

Tenten had to agree but from the look on the red haired boy's face it was unwise to comment.

"_Kankurou_," Gaara said calmly, masking his embarrassment, "go back to the hotel and play with your toys."

"I _told_ you before they aren't _toys_; they're _puppets!_" his brother yelled, indignant. Kankurou suddenly turned towards her and said, "He's just pissed I embarrassed him in front of y—" He didn't see the second punch and Kankurou let out a line of obscenities as he clutched his smarting arm. "Dammit Gaara!"

"Go home." Gaara replied flatly.

Kankurou raised a hand and pointed at his brother. "I'll remember this tonight so you had better watch your back."

Tenten grinned as Kankurou disappeared around the corner. "So, why are you here?" she asked him, motioning for him to come inside but Gaara politely declined with a shake of his head.

"Kankurou and I were inside the Marriott and they had a very nice bakery," he magically brought out a previously concealed bag and handed it to her. "I remember you told me you like sweets in one of your emails and that you like lemons."

She opened the bag and a small gasp escaped her lips. Inside was the most exquisite cake she'd ever seen. White frosting coated it from top to bottom and swirls of thick lemon glaze, yellow, covered the top and sides. A beautiful flower was in the center, made of yellow icing and around it were small spun sugar lilies, also yellow.

There was also a red rose, sweet smelling and still slightly wet with water droplets.

So it was then that she made a decision to truly forget about loving Hyuuga Neji.

'_Forget about Hyuuga and go out with Gaara._'

She would.

Gaara looked a little startled at first when she moved closer to kiss him, he hadn't been expecting it, but immediately responded.

_If Neji's moving on why can't I?_

XXXXX

Most people didn't know it, but trying on different tuxes for a wedding was exhausting, especially when you had to have Temari with you to critique it. Neji must've tried on a at least 50, but maybe 51 would be lucky.

"No." Temari idly crossed her legs and bobbed her foot up and down. "Not right."

"What do you care what I wear?" he asked, aggravated as he shrugged out of the black Armani jacket and picking up another from the enormous rack that had been delivered to Temari's hotel suite. "They all look the same."

"If I've got to marry you then I want you to look good in the wedding photos." she responded simply. Temari frowned at his jacket and shook her head.

Neji put it back on the rack. "Don't you like Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, but I have to do what my dad says, just like you have to do what your uncle says, right?" Temari glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "What?"

"I don't want to marry you."

"I wouldn't want to marry me either."

Neji gazed at her inquisitively. "What?" he asked.

Temari's mouth turned upwards in a smirk. "I'm going to make your life a living hell."

_Joy_, he thought. _At least I'll be dead by then._

"I'm leaving." he stated, walking purposefully to the door.

Temari shrugged and shoved the clothes rack towards a wall. "If you're so in love with Tenten, why are you marrying me?" she asked, feeling satisfied that she'd hit a sensitive spot as he stopped mid trek.

"I don't love her." he replied. Neji could feel her skeptical look raking over his back.

"Whatever."

XXXXX

The phone was ringing again.

Hinata ignored it and slammed the kitchen cupboard closed with more force than necessary, causing Neji to turn towards her a little irritated.

"If it annoys you so much then pick it up." he said, spreading butter on his toast and taking a bite.

"You _know_ it's Tenten trying to find out what's happened to you." she hissed.

Neji had come to realize that whenever Hinata was incredibly angry she never stuttered. "Hn."

"You need to talk to her some time," Hinata murmured, putting a bowl, a spoon and a box of cereal on the table. She opened the refrigerator and got milk. "You're going to invite her to your _wedding_ at least, right?"

"Hn." He had thought about inviting Tenten to his wedding, a lot. It engrossed his thoughts and he found himself debating whether or not to call her in the middle of the night. He wondered if she was thinking about his as much as he seemed to be doing of her. Neji couldn't tell anyone, but he missed her terribly.

Hiashi was pretty happy about his impending marriage to Temari and was constantly on the phone with his assistants booking places and signing papers to merge Hyuuga Enterprises and Sabaku Corporations.

Neji glared into his food.

The wedding was three weeks away.

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A/N: Throwing Gaara (he's so freaking awesome) into the mix adds a twist and more tension. Soon enough we'll be seeing Jealous Neji! Yay! If you liked it please review!


	13. Neji Hates Competition aka Gaara

A/N: Yes! Update! Thanks to EVERYONE! 300+ reviews, dammit! 300+! Good god, I NEVER thought it'd get that high and it almost made me cry. Almost.

I apologize for grammer/spelling mistakes.

Oh, this anonymous person named _jmj102_ reviewed chapter 11 and when people were guessing who the mystery girl was this person goes and says: 'come on people, its obviously tsunade'. Holy f-ing crap. I laughed so hard when I read that! It was totally brilliant and I kept thinking all night about the possibility of Neji x Tsunade . . . Neji'd probably run away from her gigantic chest for fear of being suffocated or something. Wouldn't that be hilarious? Totally crack pairing.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 13

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Neji POV

_Hyuugas do not scream, or cry, or let any type of emotion surface. Must stop trying to think of ways to kill Hiashi . . . Must stop thinking of ways to get out of this. Marrying Temari won't be so bad, will it? Even though she said herself that she wouldn't want to marry herself and that she'd pity me once we were wed. I have to stop sulking, must find a way to turn mouth upwards, and accept my fate. _

_Sometimes I wish I was never born into the Hyuuga . . . _

_And why does everyone keep saying I love Tenten?_

_I don't . . . I think._

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He was returning to school after a week of 'vacation' as Hiashi called it and Neji already knew today would be hell. First, Tenten never showed up, he could understand why she didn't after their . . . Conversation and it was all wishful thinking on his part, and then Hinata had come downstairs while casting him odd, furtive glances. She didn't speak and when he had asked her what was wrong she'd dropped the porcelain bowl she was holding and gave him a stuttering, nonsensical answer that had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the question.

'_I-I l-like red, d-don't y-you, N-Neji-niisan?_'

What did _that_ mean?

Neji made his way to the normal spot where everyone gathered and was unsurprised to find Lee, Naruto, Sasuke and Tenten already there. Lee and Naruto were arguing vehemently about an American TV show they had watched last night, something about a man named Peter Parker, and Sasuke was brooding as usual, dressed almost entirely in black and staring at nothing. Tenten had her cell phone out and was sending a text message to someone and laughed at something she read on the screen, but when she looked up and saw him the laughter died on her lips and her mirth disappeared.

"You're back." Sasuke said in a bored manner.

Neji nodded in response but his white eyes were on Tenten. She didn't look away from him, she didn't yell at him or walk away; she just stared.

Tenten calmly snapped her cell phone shut and ignored her hammering heart. Her mind brought forth the memory of their kisses and she slipped the phone inside her back pocket. _He's just a friend, nothing more, so stop thinking about him that way!_ There had been nothing between them so they were back to being friends. She could do this.

"Welcome back, Neji." she said, giving him her best smile.

It threw him off for a moment until he regained his wits. "Tenten." Naruto and Lee had ceased arguing and were watching him with avid interest. Neji turned his cool gaze to them and asked coldly, "Is something wrong?"

"N-No! Nothing!" Naruto answered immediately, hesitant laughter emitting from his mouth.

Lee on the other hand didn't comment.

Dead silence saturated them and Naruto coughed. "Um, did you hear that Gaara is coming back to the school?" he asked, brushing his blonde bangs out of his eyes.

"No," Tenten looked away from them and became interested with the buildings across the street, "I didn't." Neji said, watching her. He wasn't really worried about _Gaara_, only what Gaara could say about the arrangement between him and his older sister. Neji didn't want the news of his impending marriage to float around and cause an uproar, but Gaara wasn't the type to talk much. "When did he come back to Japan?"

"A few days ago from what I heard." Naruto replied.

Tenten felt his eyes on her back and turned around to face Neji. "What?" she snapped, a little irritated by his extra, unwanted, attention.

Neji simply stared. "I didn't say anything."

"Well stop looking at m—"

"_Hey!_"

All of them, minus Sasuke because he was too cool to bother, turned to see Sakura running towards them. The pink haired girl stopped in front of Tenten to catch her breath and then threw her head back and pushed her bangs from her eyes.

"Everyone's going to the mall." Sakura cried, brushing invisible dirt from her beige cargo pants.

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed. "It's Monday!"

Sakura shrugged. "Shikamaru said he was and then Ino and Chouji said they're joining them. I think Kiba and Shino are ditching too."

Naruto picked up his backpack from the ground and shouldered it. "Well," he said in a perky manner, "I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm ditching."

"Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled. "We have a test today!"

The blonde gave Lee an exasperated look. "Don't you know, Lee? Ditching once in a while is very healthy . . ." The young man looked unconvinced and Naruto smirked. "It's also very _youthful_."

Lee suddenly whipped around and grasped Tenten's shoulders.

"Lee?" she asked quizzically.

"Tenten, I'm going to skip school."

She frowned. "Why are you telling me this?"

"If I have your permission then I will know it's alright."

Tenten didn't understand his logic. "Ok . . ." she said slowly.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun! Let us go to the mall with youthfulness!" Lee yelled before running off to the school gates.

Sakura scowled at her blonde haired friend. "You used the word 'youthful' because you _knew_ it'd get him to come with you."

"I'm a genius." Naruto said, grinning like a Cheshire cat before following Lee.

Sasuke rolled his eyes skyward.

Sakura turned to him abruptly, eyes blazing. "Are _you_ leaving too, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn." he replied before swiftly grabbing her wrist and dragging her towards him so she could stand to his side.

"What was that for?" she asked sharply after wrenching her arm away.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

The Uchiha tilted his head in greeting, black bangs obscuring his eyes. "Gaara." Sasuke didn't say anything else but Gaara seemed to get the message from the look in his eye and the way Sasuke's hand casually grazed Sakura's. The pink haired girl didn't notice and said hello to Gaara.

Neji observed the red head with a critical eye and noticed that he still wore dark eye liner. _Gay!_ his mind screamed before amending. _Then again, it's you who has long hair and spends an hour every night in the bathroom washing it . . ._ Neji was unsurprised by Gaara's silent manner, and the fact that he didn't say hello and instead nodded towards him, but he was surprised when Gaara took Tenten's hand in his and kissed her on the cheek while she smiled like an idiot.

His mind reeled. _It can't be . . ._

Tenten smiled as Gaara's lips met hers in a kiss, his mouth sweet and gentle on her own.

Then she saw Neji's expression.

"Oh, Neji! Sorry. You probably don't know," she said, blushing slightly.

_I can already guess,_ he thought.

"Gaara and I are dating now."

He kept his face carefully blank but he knew when Gaara locked eyes with him a look of absolute disdain was on it.

Neji had never hated anyone more.

XXXXX

Ino drummed her fingers on the metal table and sipped her Coke absently. She and Shikamaru were sitting at a table in the food court of the most glorious place in the world: The mall. Shikamaru was watching Chouji and Kiba play a game, trying in vain to get toys with a metal claw, and didn't pay her the least bit of attention. And she had worn one of her best sexy outfits to accompany him on his ditch day! A beige mini skirt that barely covered her ass, dark blue high heels with cute turquoise string that laced up around her calves and a tight-across-the-chest light blue shirt with a plunging neckline that hugged her form perfectly and exposed part of her flat, and perfectly tanned, stomach and accented the color of her eyes!

_Dammit Shikamaru! Compliment my outfit, you fool!_

She wanted to scream her frustrations out into the heavens. Kiba had made a comment about her outfit, to which she replied foxily, but the Nara had said nothing. Many other guys had eyed her but the one guy she had wanted to impress, well, he was busy watching two idiots playing a game where the grand prize was a miniature Pikachu doll.

"Shikamaru," she purred, crossing her legs seductively so that they appeared a mile long, "what do you think about my outfit today?"

"Fine." he replied absently, staring at the clouds through the giant window ceiling of the food court. _God, why is she asking me this?_

_Ok, he's playing hard to get. I can deal with this easy. _"Hey, Sh—"

"_Shikamaru!_"

Ino inwardly groaned as Naruto and Lee came running towards them, with their back packs.

"Why do you guys have your backpacks?" she asked.

"We were at school and when we heard you guys were here we ditched." Naruto replied simply, grinning.

"You got _Lee_ to ditch?"

"Naruto-kun told me it is very healthy to ditch and that it's youthful!" Lee cried, pumping his fists into the air.

"Right . . ." Ino said slowly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Can you guys be a little quieter?"

Naruto and Lee ran off somewhere and Ino and Shikamaru were left alone again.

"I heard Gaara's back in Japan." Ino said, gazing at the Nara.

"So?"

"Temari might be back too." she replied.

Shikamaru didn't seem the least bit concerned and leaned back in his chair. "And?" he asked.

Ino was a little irritated by his lack of response. "She's your old girlfriend, you guys went out for, like, a _year_, aren't you going to go see her?"

"We're not together anymore," he shrugged in nonchalance, "so I don't feel the need."

"Don't you still like her?"

He looked at her for a second and then rose from his chair. "Stop." Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets. "If you want to ask me something then be direct. I don't like when women play games with me. It's unbecoming of you, Ino." He walked away.

She felt like his words were a slap in the face.

XXXXX

Tenten was steadily growing tired of Neji's silent treatment. He wouldn't talk to her unless he had to, group assignments now sucked with the Hyuuga, and he wouldn't look at her at all, instead finding the _wall_ more interesting than she. Hello! Why was he acting like a sulking baby? It was a rhetorical question, she knew why.

Gaara.

Gaara, Gaara, Gaara.

Neji had never taken well to competition, Uchiha Sasuke was bad, but Sabaku no Gaara was even worse. In P.E. there had been a basketball game, Tenten, Sakura and Hinata were standing on the sidelines while their coach Anko went to get the volleyballs and watched as Gaara and Neji were having a glaring match while they stole passes and tried scoring. Ten seconds left and they were tied before Gaara shot a 3-pointer and scored, leaving them 45-42. Neji had been less than enthusiastic about the outcome and stormed off the court.

And in Gai's class there had been a pop quiz. He had them graded during the period and was happy to announce that Gaara achieved a perfect score and that a few people had missed only one question, Neji among them.

Tenten had winced when she head this; it wasn't the right thing to say to the Hyuuga and Neji was glaring daggers at Gaara's back.

She turned to him and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Neji—"

Neji moved away from her as if she had burned him. "What?" he snapped.

Tenten retracted her hand hastily. "Nothing." The bell rang. "Do you want m—"

"Go with your boyfriend." Neji said sharply. "He's waiting for you."

Her eyes widened at his tone and then narrowed. "Fine." she said, resolute. "If that's the way you feel." Tenten walked purposefully away and stormed out of the room, meeting Gaara outside.

XXXXX

"You could've handled that a little better, Neji-kun." Gai admonished.

"Hn." _That's you opinion,_ he thought. The two were alone after class and Neji roughly slammed his class work down upon Gai's desk, problems only half done since he had spent most of the class period thinking of ways to kill Gaara and get Tenten back.

"Why don't you just tell her the truth?"

"I don't want to." Neji realized he sounded like a sulking child but didn't care.

"It would solve so many problems between you t—"

"And what?" Neji asked. "I'd still have to marry Temari so it wouldn't matter."

"Maybe if you talked to y—"

"Hn."

Gai was frustrated. "But if y—"

"_Hn._" Neji was a little more insistent this time.

"Alright, do what you want, but I'm going to tell you this: Tenten's feelings haven't changed, not one bit, but you need to make up your mind on if you love her or not before it's too late."

"Hn."

XXXXX

Gaara raised an eye brow at her inquisitively. "What's wrong?"

"Guys are so weird." Tenten huffed, narrowing her eyes at a nearby tree.

"Many guys would say the same thing about girls." he countered easily.

"Well if that's how you feel." She removed his hand from her waist and took a step away from him. She grinned at his serious expression and laughed when Gaara grabbed her wrist and spun her around till she was in the confines of his arms. Tenten closed her eyes and turned her face away from his, trying in vain to suppress her smile.

"You're not weird," he whispered, breath tickling her ear. "You're great, Tenten."

"I'm glad you agree."

When he kissed her she kissed him back. There wasn't the electricity she felt when Neji had kissed her, but good god Gaara was talented. His kisses could go from sweet to passionate in a second and he always placed a hand over her pulse and caressed it, which drove her crazy. So what if he wasn't Neji? If she closed her eyes then she could imagine it was _him _kissing her instead . . .

"Hn."

The two broke apart and Tenten was startled by what looked like a very pissed off Neji.

Gaara brushed his lips against her ear and whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Tenten grinned. "Ok."

XXXXX

Neji was pissed, beyond pissed. He was _incredibly_ pissed. Coming out from the school building he'd found Tenten and Gaara in a 'passionate' embrace and kissing. It disgusted him. Neji knew he shouldn't feel this way, it was his idea that they remain just friends, but he couldn't help wanting to rip Gaara to pieces for touching Tenten, kissing her, being her boyfriend when he couldn't.

"So," he tried to keep his tone civil, "how are you?"

Tenten looked at him out of the corner of her eye and shrugged. "I'm fine, and you?"

"Good."

Enter long period of awkward silence.

_Shit,_ she thought, _I wish we weren't put together on this English project. Damn Kakashi-sensei!_

Neji couldn't take it anymore and burst out, "Why are you with _him?_"

She was a bit taken aback, he'd never done that before, and then she glowered at him. "It's none of your business why I'm with Gaara, but if you must know it's because I _like_ him." she answered coldly.

"He's not good enough for you," he replied, scowling.

"It's not for _you_ to decide who's 'good enough' for me and who isn't, Neji." she said, voice controlled. "And what's it to _you_ anyway?"

He turned away sharply. "Hn."

"You are so irritating!" she screamed. "You tell me you just want to be friends, and I'm fine with that, but when _I_ start going out with Gaara _you _start acting like an anal bastard! What is _wrong_ with you?"

"What's wrong with _me?_" Neji asked, incredulously. "What's wrong with _you?_"

"_Me?_"

"One minute you like me and then the next you're with _him._" he said angrily.

"I never said I didn't like you." she countered, thinking about their friendship.

"That's not what I meant."

Tenten wanted to knee him between the legs. "_You told me you didn't feel that way about me so what does it matter?_" she asked, practically yelling her question at him even though he was a mere foot or so away. "You told me we should just remain friends. _You_ told _me_ you weren't interested in me that way!"

_I am! I just don't know it yet/am too stupid to tell you!_

Neji growled, "I'm not."

"Good!" she snapped.

"Fine!"

"_Fine!_"

They stood there glaring at each other for a few seconds.

"You don't consider me a friend anymore, do you?" Tenten asked quietly, looking away for a moment before catching his gaze. Neji looked genuinely hurt at her question, a look somewhat akin to how-could-you-even-ask-that was plastered on his gorgeous face. She took a deep breath. "Are you really getting married?" she asked suddenly. His expression turned to one of momentary horror, and then went completely blank. "Neji?" _I won't believe it till I've heard it from you. I can't._ Tenten knew that if she heard it directly from the Hyuuga that . . . She didn't really know, but it would be permanent. That Neji _would_ be getting married to Temari and that there was no hope for her after all.

"Hn."

It confirmed her worst fears and Tenten faked a smile. "Congratulations." she said, hoping that no trace of bitterness was present. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't feel the need." he replied, voice monotone.

"How long have you and Temari . . .?"

It hit him in an instant; she didn't know this was an arranged marriage, just that he was getting married to Temari.

Tenten couldn't be there with him anymore. She murmured a quick good bye and ran off in the direction of her apartment building. She thought she heard him call her, but it was probably wishful thinking. Neji was in love with Temari . . . And they were getting married.

XXXXX

A/N: Jealous Neji was slightly downplayed I think. Tenten's a bit conflicted! It was weird writing the Gaara x Tenten, I actually find them a pretty hot couple now and there was a little of Shikamaru x Ino. Please review if you liked it!

FYI: When Gaara mentioned the 'deal' thing last chapter Tenten didn't really 'comprehend' the entire situation, so that's why she thinks Neji likes/loves Temari.


	14. Conflicting Emotions

A/N: Ok, I know I haven't updated in, like, 3 weeks, I suck, and I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I taking final exams next week so I've been studying and finishing projects since everything seemed like it was due this week so I was only able to work on this chapter in small increments.

And . . . Um . . . I probably won't be updating this again for another two or three weeks since I'm going to California to visit my mom so . . . Yeah . . . Just to let you know since I'll be gone and stuff.

Thanks for being patient with me!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 14

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Neji POV

_So I haven't found time to talk to Tenten, been busy with the wedding preparations and stuff. It sucks. In school she won't even look at me, much less talk to me and I always have to ask Hinata if Tenten's said anything about me. Hinata doesn't reply, something about girls keeping their friend's secrets, and tells me that I am obsessed. _

_I am not obsessed. _

_I'm just curious . . . Ok, maybe a little obsessed too._

_Hinata also says that I'm acting like a love-struck idiot._

_. . . I am not an idiot._

XXXXX

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

Ino, Sakura and Hinata all looked at her with the same odd, questioning, expression on their faces.

"What brought _this_ on?" Sakura asked, eyeing the brunette. Tenten looked tired, as if she hadn't been getting enough sleep, and she looked frustrated, roughly running her fingers through her bangs and groaning. "Does it have something to do with Neji?"

"No—_Yes_, but it shouldn't." Tenten gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what's wrong with me! Gaara and I've been going out for almost three weeks and I—" she buried her head into her hands, shaking her head. "—I can't stop wishing whenever Gaara kisses me that it's _Neji_ instead. I am so screwed up . . ."

"No," Hinata put a comforting arm around the girl. "N-not screwed up, j-just c-confused. Do you s-still l-like Neji-niisan?"

Tenten nodded miserably. "I know I shouldn't, I'm with _Gaara_ now, but I just can't help it."

"He was your first love, wasn't he?" Ino leaned against Tenten's living room couch and sighed. "It's understandable. You don't forget first loves so easily . . ."

Sakura was staring at the blonde in surprise. "Ino, you sound so . . . _compassionate._"

"I am compassionate!" Ino snapped, finding Sakura's surprise insulting.

"F-focus g-guys." Hinata muttered. "W-what a-are you going to d-do about G-Gaara?"

"I _want_ to tell him, but I don't want to hurt him. He's great—sweet, fun to be around—"

"Even if he's a little dark?" Ino asked.

Tenten gave her a slashing look. "—he's smart, and you've seen how hot he is. I mean, he's almost like a dream boyfriend but . . . When I kiss him there's no . . . _Thing_. He's a great kisser and all, but it's just not there. When I kissed Neji though, it was _amazing_. I've never felt that way before and when he touched me I felt something running through my arm, like electricity."

Sakura placed a hand on top of Tenten's and squeezed it sympathetically. "You and Neji have been friends for years and only _now_ you're discovering this chemistry?" She smiled and the others let out laughs. "You are the _only_ girl he's ever shown any interest in—we've been watching—and you two are, like, best friends. You're the only girl he ever talks to and we can see the way he looks at you, Tenten. He may deny it but he's totally fallen for you."

"N-Neji-niisan has been a-asking a-about you since the day he f-found out you and Gaara were g-going o-out. He w-won't stop bugging m-me." Hinata said wryly while rolling her eyes. "H-He's still a-a b-bit conflicted because h—" Neji's angry glare flashed before her mind and she quickly deviated from the truth. "—he s-still d-doesn't, um, y-you k-know, ah, u-understand his e-emotions!" she finished lamely.

_Oh my god,_ she thought, _I almost said that Neji-niisan's having an arranged marriage! He'd kill me for sure if I let that slip. Still, I think he's being unreasonable about this because if she knew she'd understand and maybe Father will break off the engagement . . . _Hinata closed her eyes while the Tenten and the others gazed at her quizzically. _No, Father is Father and he'd never break it off. Tenten . . ._

"It's ok, Hinata. I talked to Neji and he confirmed that he and Temari are getting married." Tenten sighed, failing to see Hinata's look of shock. "It's ok if he doesn't return my feelings, I mean, he can love whomever he wants, but I'm glad he knows how I feel, at least, I hope he does. Neji can be pretty dense sometimes . . ."

"Dammit, Tenten!" Ino screamed, grabbing Tenten's shoulders and shaking her furiously. The brunette felt like her neck was going to snap from the force. "Why," shake, "are you," another shake, "so _damn_ understanding!?" The blonde's grip was so hard that Tenten was wincing, and because Ino's voice was so high. "You _love_ him, dammit! _Go get him!_ Confess your love, hug him, _kiss_ him! Make him see that Temari is _nothing_ compared to you and, dammit! Be happy with that son of a bitch!"

Tenten managed to regain her wits and stopped seeing the room tilt after another minute.

"He likes _Temari_—" she protested.

"No."

All eye turned to Hinata and the Hyuuga bit her lower lip.

"Tenten, t-there's something I have to tell y-you . . ."

XXXXX

Neji pointedly looked away when Gaara entered the room with his older brother. The animosity between them had not waned and they ignored each other whenever they were in the same vicinity. The red head and Tenten were still going out, bordering on three weeks, and Neji still hated him for it.

Tenten was supposed to be _his_ girl.

Ok, so it was basically his fault things were a mess but damn, he wanted things back to normal.

"Now that we are all present, I can begin." Hiashi opened up a folder and began spreading out the papers. Forms and typed contracts sat before them and Baki began reading one while Temari, Gaara and Kankurou sat silently. "These will not be signed till the day of the wedding but I thought you'd like to look them over to make sure everything we discussed is stated in the contract."

At the mention of the wedding, Temari began scowling. "How many people will be there?"

"Close to two thousand."

She blanched. "I thought you said this would be small and quick." she said, turning her accusing gaze to Baki. "You lied."

"We never do anything on a small scale, Temari."

"Neji," Hiashi began, gazing at his nephew, "have you sent out an invitation to that friend of yours? Tenten?"

Gaara's fist clenched underneath the table.

"No," Neji was watching Gaara, "I haven't." He had been avoiding that particular 'thing' for the past two weeks. It wasn't that he didn't want Tenten at the wedding, but he feared that he would lose his nerve to go through with it if she was there.

"Well do it soon if you wish to have her there."

"If it's alright with you, Hyuuga-san, I'd like to invite Tenten to the wedding," Gaara ignored Neji's glare, "as my date."

Hiashi nodded. "That would be fine."

"Hn."

XXXXX

"Hinata?"

"You're n-not g-going to like this b-but Neji-niisan is having an a—"

The sound of a fist slamming against Tenten's door stopped Hinata mid-sentence and Tenten frowned. She wasn't expecting any visitors today . . .

"_Hinata-chan!_" a voice cried from the other side, "_Are you in there?_"

_Naruto_, Tenten thought wryly, rolling her eyes. What was he doing here? Usually when he came to the building he was usually going to see Sasuke so he could copy the Uchiha's homework and then play videogames.

"_Hinata-chan! Are you in there? Did you forget? We have a date today!_"

Sakura and Tenten turned equally stunned expressions onto the blushing Hyuuga girl and Ino was smirking.

"Hinata! You have a _date_ with Naruto and you didn't even _tell_ us!?" Sakura hissed/squealed.

"W-well it w-was l-last m-minute!" Hinata stammered, pressing her index fingers together shyly. "H-he a-asked m-me after school y-yesterday a-and I forgot t-to t-tell you g-guys . . . D-do you mind?"

All three girls began saying 'No!' all at once and pushing her towards the door. Ino fixed Hinata's bangs, Sakura smoothed Hinata's shirt and Tenten smacked her back and grinned.

"Don't stay out too late!" she cried while pushing Hinata out the door that Sakura held open. "And don't do anything Ino wouldn't do!"

The Hyuuga girl stumbled into the hallway, blushing madly as the door closed behind her.

"Come on! I wanna take you to my favorite restaurant!" Naruto was grinning and held out his hand.

Hinata smiled ruefully—knowing full well it was Ichiraku Ramen—and took his hand.

XXXXX

"I heard from Lee that you were putting 'the moves' on Shikamaru. Did it work?" Sakura asked.

Ino snorted. "No, and I wore one of my best outfits too. Before he left me at the table he goes and says 'Stop playing games, it's unbecoming' or something like that."

"Wow. He just put you down, didn't he?"

"I've _never_ had to work for a guy's attention. What the hell?" Ino slammed her palm against the couch and huffed, frustrated. "This sucks."

Tenten smiled. "Maybe you have to give it time. Shikamaru is just Shikamaru."

The blonde scowled. "You got that right."

XXXXX

_It's been two days since Hinata's date with Naruto . . . I wonder what she had to tell me . . ._

Tenten idly sat inside the library, a French text book open in her lap, and tapped her pen lightly against her mouth, thinking. If it was something important that she needed to know, Hinata would've called afterwards but so far there had been no word from her and Tenten wondered if Hinata's date with Naruto went well instead.

_They're so cute together, I hope he asks her out soon . . ._

There was still the dilemma of Neji and Gaara. She had decided, after Ino and Sakura left, that she would stay with Gaara and hope that her feelings for the Hyuuga would go away. And to help that plan she decided to avoid Hyuuga Neji. Forever if need be.

"Tenten."

_Oh my god._

It was the voice of the guy she had come to dread and long for. Slowly, Tenten turned her head and gazed into Neji's brilliant, chilling, white eyes. He was dressed simply, a charcoal gray shirt which hugged his form slightly and showed off his wonderful chest, and vintage looking jeans. She forced herself to look into his eyes instead of at his body.

"Yes?"

"We need to talk."

"No," Tenten turned back to her French homework, "I think we did enough talking last time."

"Tenten." he said sternly. "We need to talk."

"Neji!" she snapped, standing up and allowing the book to fall to the floor with a loud crash. "No we don't! All the talking is _done!_" She was very aware that they had drawn an audience and stooped to retrieve her fallen text book, scowling and brushing invisible dust from its cover.

"You two, could you please keep it down? If you must yell then leave the library." The librarian pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and gave them a warning look.

"Sorry, Ebisu-sensei." Tenten muttered. She shoved her books and things into her backpack and storming past Neji and walking out the double doors.

The Hyuuga was right at her heels.

"Leave me alone, Neji! I don't want to talk to you!" she yelled, sharply turning a corner and then cursing. She'd turned into a dead end, brick wall on two sides of her, a high fence at her left and Hyuuga Neji, she could feel him, behind her.

"Hn."

"Ok, fine." Tenten whipped around. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You . . . And me." Neji replied. He had been looking for her all day, yesterday too, and finding her seemed like a miracle. Seeing her again made him want to grab her and kiss her, but he ignored his spontaneous self, it usually got him into situations he didn't want to be in, and calmly kept himself from hugging her.

"We're friends, Neji. What more do you want?"

"Are you in love with, Gaara?" he asked, voice serious.

"Excuse me?"

"It's a simple question."

"You have no right to ask me that!" Tenten hissed. "I don't ask about _your_ love life!"

"I don't have one." he said calmly.

"How can you say that when you and Temari are getting _married?_ Neji, you are such an a—"

He grabbed her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. Neji placed a hand at her waist and a hand at the back of her head when she didn't fight him.

Tenten was in shock, but it soon melted away and all the could think about was Neji's kissing expertise. Her bag dropped from her hands and she threaded her fingers through his long, black hair, making sure he couldn't pull away. Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered that this was very wrong, she was cheating on Gaara, but she brought him closer and kissed him back.

Neji pulled away slowly, his mouth lingering for a second over hers, and then gazed at her face. It took a lot of effort not to lick his lips. Their eyes locked for a moment and he let out a ghost of a smile at her dazed expression. It wasn't one he saw often on her.

Tenten tried to regulate her breathing and removed her hands from his hair. _Holy crap, what just happened? I kissed Neji. I just cheated on Gaara! Shit! _Summoning up some anger, it was hard since her brain was still slightly dazed from the kiss, she roughly pushed him away and made a show of pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

"What are you _doing!?_" she demanded hotly.

"I kissed you." he said simply.

"_Why?_ You _know_ I'm with Gaara now!" She could feel tears in the back of her eyes and blinked them back furiously. "If you don't want me then don't kiss me! It's that simple!" she snapped and, in her intense fit of anger, punched him across the face. Tenten grabbed her bag and ran, not even caring that Uchiha Sasuke was watching her and Uzumaki Naruto was screaming her name.

XXXXX

Neji could hear Naruto screaming and then it stopped and he could hear footsteps coming closer. He pressed a hand to his burning cheek. He hoped there wasn't going to be a bruise but it was likely to turn purple tomorrow.

He knew it was coming and didn't fight Naruto when the blonde roughly grabbed the neck of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"What the hell did you do to, Tenten!?" he screamed.

From out of no where Sasuke's arm shot out and he was gripping Naruto's arm.

"Let him go, dobe."

Reluctantly, he did. Naruto scowled. "What the hell happened?"

"Hn." Neji replied coldly.

"Tenten was crying when s—"

"She rejected you." Sasuke stated matter-of-factly.

Neji chose not to respond.

XXXXX

Somewhere in Japan four days before Neji and Temari's wedding . . .

"Wedding in a few days. Odds?"

"8 to 1 she stays with Gaara."

"3 to 1 she dumps him."

"Lots of faith in Gaara," a voice said sarcastically, "nice."

"I'm just telling you how I think this'll all end."

"5 to 1 she ends up with no one."

"2 to 1 Hyuuga ends up with Temari."

"1 to 2 Hyuuga screws himself over."

"That'd be the same thing as him ending up with Temari!" someone protested.

"So?"

"I'd bet on those odds."

"Isn't anyone going to bet on Neji and Tenten actually _getting_ together?"

". . . 1 to 2 on Neji and Tenten."

Someone scoffed.

"Yeah right."

XXXXX

A/N: Chapter 14 is done. Thank god. Only a few more chapters left till the end and the 'wedding' is four days away. So much drama in this one it reminds me of a soap opera. LOL. Please review!

FYI: Sasuke and Naruto did not _see_ Neji and Tenten but they _heard_ the argument. They were in the library too and followed them a little (just so you know).


	15. Three Days

A/N: Chapter 15! This story's going to be finished soon, only a few more chapters till the end. I decided to give you guys one more chapter before I leave for Califonia tomorrow so you won't have to wait two weeks. Enjoy!

Oh, if you didn't know I have another NejiTen story up! It's called Blue Bloods so go take a look!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 15

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Neji POV

_I couldn't have screwed up more even if I tried._

_Why did I just kiss her like that?_

_More importantly, why did she kiss me back?_

_Does she still like me . . .?_

_Wedding in three days. Maybe if I talk to Hiashi he'll break off the engagement and then . . . I could . . ._

XXXXX

"So," Gai groped for a good way to start off the conversation. "How are you, Neji?"

He grunted in reply.

"Your wedding is in three days . . ."

No reply.

"Oh! Let me show you something I got the other day first!"

Neji _really_ wasn't in the mood for this today. He'd been asked to stay after class, again, and waited patiently by Gai's desk. Tenten had been pointedly ignoring him since the beginning of school and when he tried to apologize for his . . . Inappropriate behavior . . . She slammed her books shut and firmly told him to 'go to hell'. He clenched his hands into fists and shoved them into his pockets.

Why did everything have to be such a mess because he'd fallen in love with his best friend?

"Ah! Here it is!" Gai exclaimed brightly. He opened his cell phone and held it out proudly for Neji to examine, a small picture up on the glowing screen. "What do you think?"

The Hyuuga was in a state of utter shock.

It was a picture of him and Tenten.

Kissing.

Neji turned his eyes onto Gai. _How did he get that p—_

"Oh, Lee and I saw you two in that little area. I didn't think you had it in you, Neji! And she's going out with Gaara!" Gai shook his head side to side in exasperation. "Not very smart of you, Neji."

"You were . . . Spying on us?"

"No . . . I was sent this picture by Kakashi!"

Neji almost fell over from shock. Kakashi? _Kakashi_ had this picture? This was _just_ the type of thing a pervert like _him_ would do! Did he send it to anyone else? Had anyone else saw them kissing the other day? Did _Tenten_ know about this?

"Does anyone . . . Else . . . Know?" Neji asked slowly.

"I'm not sure," Gai mused before shaking his head and getting serious. "But that's not why I asked you to stay after class. Your wedding is in three days and I think I'm going to have to kill you again. Yes, it's unfortunate, but it doesn't look like you've found your true love—well you _have_—but it doesn't look like you'll be together. Now, you've still got time, and I'd rather not drag you under, but you've got to tell Tenten how you really feel."

Neji narrowed his eyes at Gai. "You'd think that she'd know by now. It's not like I go around kissing girls everyday—"

"She needs to hear you _say_ it." Gai replied, frowning at the Hyuuga. "You love her, Neji."

"She's made her choice to stay with Gaara so there's no point."

"But . . . Neji—"

"Hn."

Gai crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why do you care so much?" Neji countered.

"I've seen many young men like you," Gai sighed deeply. "When they die they have many regrets but the one they harp on the most is not telling the girl they loved that they loved them. Tell her, Neji. You'll be doing her and yourself a favor."

XXXXX

"I have something to ask you."

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise and fear crept into her blood. Had Gaara found out about the kiss between her and Neji? They had been walking hand-in-hand down the street, he was taking her back to her apartment, and he had been eerily silent throughout the day. When she asked him about it during lunch he had passed it off as worry about his older sister's upcoming marriage.

"Ok," Tenten bit her lip, "what is it?"

"Do you want to be my date for the wedding?" he asked, green eyes staring imploringly into her own.

"I didn't even receive an invitation, Gaara," she admitted sadly. Neji _really_ didn't consider them friends anymore. If he did he would've sent her an invitation, even if there was—no, there was nothing.

Gaara shook his head. "Hyuuga Hiashi asked me to invite you to the wedding personally. I hope you don't mind . . ." He brushed a hand against her cheek and she couldn't help the smile that bloomed on her lips.

"Ok."

He let a rare smile grace his lips and brought them down to her own.

Tenten kissed him back but, unbidden, memories of Neji's kiss invaded her mind. She abruptly pulled back and viciously pushed those thoughts back into the deep recesses of her mind as the red head before her stared at her in surprise and some confusion.

_I can't do this . . ._

"Is something . . ." he didn't finish his question and stared at something behind her. "Hyuuga."

Tenten whipped around, expecting to see Neji, but found Hyuuga _Hinata_ standing there.

"Hinata?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Um . . . I-Ino a-asked me to come f-find you because s-she n-needs u-us to help her find a d-dress f-for N-Neji-niisan's . . . wedding . . ." Hinata clasped her hands behind her back, nervous. She'd come and found them kissing and the look Gaara was giving her was an odd one . . . Very odd. She couldn't even begin to describe the thing she saw there . . . Something close to . . . Triumph? Against who? Neji? Hinata didn't know. "C-Can you come, Tenten?"

The girl in question turned around to look at her boyfriend. "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

Gaara brushed a kiss against her temple. "Have fun . . . Trying on clothes."

"It's more fun than it sounds," Tenten replied, smiling.

XXXXX

"Why are we going to your house?"

"The dresses are t-there."

"Is . . . Neji going to be there?"

"You sound like you _w-want_ Neji-niisan there."

Tenten's cheeks heated. "I don't! I hate that anal bastard and he can crawl into a hole and die for all I care!" she replied hotly.

Hinata hid her smile. "W-whatever you say, Tenten."

XXXXX

"This one looks good on you, Sakura." Ino held up a strapless, light pink knee length dress to Sakura's frame. The end of the dress flared out a little and shimmered when the material moved. "Once Sasuke sees you in this thing he'll be dumbstruck at how hot you look."

"This is a wedding, Ino, not a party." Sakura reminded her patiently.

"So? You can look good _and_ attend a wedding at the same time."

Hinata smiled and Tenten nodded in agreement.

"Sakura, you'll look hot!" Tenten cried, throwing an arm around the girl. "Sasuke won't know what hit him."

"Yeah. Ino, w-where's your dress?" Hinata asked.

"Back over there," Ino waved her hand behind her as she helped Sakura into the pink dress.

Hinata walked towards the couch, yes, they were trying on dresses in the living room, not the most practical thing but, anyways, she found Ino's dress. It was a light turquoise halter dress that was ruffled down the bottom and slanted downwards from the left side. She fingered the material and it slid through her fingers like silk. As always, Ino's taste was impeccable.

Sakura tugged the front of the dress up, frowning at her chest. "God, can I even wear a bra with this thing?" she asked, turning her head slightly to see Ino.

"Hm . . . Maybe. I'm sure we can find you one later." Ino, satisfied with the way Sakura looked in the dress, turned around to look at Hinata. "Come over here! I've already found you a dress!"

"W-what?" Hinata asked, stuttering. She cast a mortified look at Sakura's dress and then at herself. If Ino thought she was wearing something like _that_ she was sadly mistaken . . .

The blonde laughed. "Come on! Don't be afraid to show off your curves! Naruto's going to be floored when he sees you in this dress!" She held up a v-neck dark blue dress with ribbon shoulder straps. It had a chiffon trim ribbon around the waist and a floral appliqué and rhinestones. The dress ended at the knee and chiffon trim down the center of the bodice. It was classy and showed off some skin at the same time. "What do you think?"

Hinata liked it.

"I-it's beautiful," she murmured.

Tenten grinned. "Ino has good taste. She wouldn't but you in something ugly."

Ino nodded. "That's right and I've found _your_ dress too, Tenten." The brunette groaned. "Hey! You just complimented my fashion sense so have a little faith in my decision!" she snapped, pulling a dress out of a rack beside her. "Look at it!"

And indeed, Tenten did.

It was a solid white spaghetti strap dress with an off-white ruched sheer strap overlay. Black ribbon lined the bust line and tied into a small bow on the left side. It, like the others, was also knee length and it seemed to be made of the same material as Sakura's.

"You can't expect me to wear something like that." Tenten said flatly.

"You can and _will_." Ino stated with finality. "Just try it on."

Tenten caught the dress Ino threw at her. It was so . . . Nice and for some reason she found herself wondering what _Neji_ would say if he saw her in it.

She wanted to smack herself.

XXXXX

Neji walked into the café, expecting to see Temari but not expecting her to be with someone. A certain, Nara. Shikamaru and the blonde were speaking to each other avidly, really close too. She placed a hand on top of his and Shikamaru didn't pull away but continued talking as if it was nothing and Neji was surprised. Did Shikamaru get along so well with all his ex-girlfriends?

Temari caught sight of him, Shikamaru did too, and she waved him over.

"Neji, you made it." she said, giving him a sultry smile.

Neji nodded. "Shikamaru."

"Neji." The Nara sighed and muttered something about his 'troublesome mother' and left.

"What was that about?" he asked, turning to the blonde.

Temari shrugged. "Just catching up on old times."

Neji stared at her. Temari's eyes were alight with . . . Mischief. It certainly wasn't 'just catching up on old times'. "You shouldn't go out with other guys while we're engaged." he said.

She smirked. "You shouldn't go kissing other girls either." she countered easily. He stiffened and gave her no response. "News travels fast, Neji. If you want to kiss other girls it's fine, but don't go kissing my little brother's girlfriend like that." Temari rolled her eyes. "At least wait till they break up—" she muttered.

Neji grasped her shoulder instantly. "What?"

"Neji?"

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing." she replied, grinning.

The Hyuuga gave her a hard glare and then removed his hand.

"Rehearsal tonight. Don't be late."

Temari groaned. "Yeah, yeah . . ."

XXXXX

A/N: Well, were the descriptions for the dresses alright? I'd like to reach 400 reviews for this story so, please review? Please?


	16. The Night Before

A/N: It's been weeks since I last updated. Man, this took me forever to write and it's probably the most boring chapter I've written. I think I'm losing my touch since I used to be able to pump these chapters out really fast, but for this one I really had to think about how I was going to go at it . . . Eh. I apologize for grammer/spelling mistakes. Enjoy!

Oh my god . . . 400+ reviews! 400+! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 16

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Neji POV

_Rehearsal went well I guess._

_Car was on time, preparations were good, everyone was where they were supposed to be, oh, except Temari, who I found talking to someone on her cell phone in the bathroom a full thirty minutes late to the alter. She laughed it off and put her phone away before I could see who she was speaking to but I have a feeling it was Nara Shikamaru._

_What the hell is going on between those two?_

_Oh, in the small audience I saw Gai and he was giving me these sad looks, like the kind you see on a kicked puppy, and I almost blanched._

_That face looks hideous on Gai._

_I wonder why Gaara wasn't at the rehearsal . . . That bastard. I hope he jumps off a roof or something._

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Normally, Neji wasn't one to feel nervous about anything, but with his impending marriage tomorrow and the fact that he would die looming over his head he felt the need to upchuck and found himself in his bathroom with his forehead pressed against the mirror over his bathroom sink. He turned on the faucet and hoped the running water would drown out the sounds of his harsh breathing.

It was really happening.

He would be marrying Temari tomorrow.

Neji didn't even recognize the person staring him back in the mirror.

He had to get away.

XXXXX

_Of all the places I could go, I find myself _here.

Neji was currently standing in front of Tenten's door and debated whether or not to knock.

_She hates me . . . She hates me . . . She hates me . . ._

"Hyuuga?"

Said boy turned abruptly to face a certain Uchiha, a certain Uchiha who was smirking knowingly at him. Neji's complete mortification only increased when Naruto appeared from behind the dark haired teen.

"Neji? What are you doing here?" the blonde asked.

"Nothing." Neji muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. He noticed that both held large bags and he nodded towards the bag in question.

Naruto shrugged. "Tuxedo."

Neji nodded. At least they wouldn't be wearing jeans and a t-shirt to his wedding.

"Tenten's out with Ino, Hinata and Sakura." Sasuke said, rolling his shoulders back. "If you were looking for her."

"How do you know that?" the Hyuuga asked.

"Sakura."

"Hey, teme, are you going out with Sakura-chan now?" Naruto demanded, piercing Sasuke with his blue-eyed glare. "I saw you two together—"

The Uchiha gave him a bored look. "What do you care? You have Hinata now, don't you?"

Neji felt a vein in his neck pop but pushed down the urge to beat Naruto to a bloody pulp. Hinata wouldn't like that and would probably get Ino and Sakura to kick the living daylights out of him. Not to mention the major beating Tenten would personally give him should he destroy Hinata's chances of being with the boy she loved. Naruto was safe for now, but if he ever hurt Hinata all bets were off and Neji was going to pound him into the ground with his fists.

"Teme," Naruto growled, blushing, "are you going out with Sakura-chan or not?"

"It's none of your business." Sasuke replied.

"I didn't think you'd fall for one of your fan girls," Neji said.

A slight blush crept up Sasuke's neck and Naruto laughed.

"Shut it, dobe." Sasuke scowled. "And what about you, Hyuuga?"

Neji was instantly on the defensive. "What about me?"

"You're in love with Tenten-chan, aren't you?" Naruto was grinning like an idiot and gave him a thumbs up. "You two would look great together."

"I'm getting married to Temari tomorrow."

The blonde scratched the back of his head in realization. "Oh. Right."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Dobe."

XXXXX

"You know, I'm suddenly realizing that Neji didn't even have a bachelor party."

Sakura shrugged at Ino. "Maybe that's because they got engaged, what, a month ago?"

Tenten gazed at the two quizzically. "Why are they going so fast?"

Ino and Sakura looked at each other before the blonde spoke.

"Don't you know? The whole thing was planned by Hyuuga Hiashi. He's merging his company with Sabaku Corp. and they're marrying Temari and Neji so that it'll be permanent. _Really_ permanent." Ino said, shrugging. "Personally I think it's a wasted effort. Everyone knows _Gaara_ will inherit the company but I don't think Hyuuga Hiashi is willing to force Hinata into an arranged marriage."

The brunette's jaw almost hit the floor.

_Temari . . . Neji . . . Marry . . . Permanent . . ._

_Deal._

"Oh my god," Tenten whispered, "that's what Gaara meant." She turned her eyes onto Sakura and nailed her with a look. "How did you two find out about this?" she demanded.

"That's not important right now." Sakura replied quickly. "What are you going to do about this now that you've found out?"

There was a crash behind her and Tenten whipped around. Hinata stared at her with wide eyes and held a tray slack in her hand, the glass cups filled with iced tea were on the floor.

"Y-you f-found o-out?" Hinata asked, stammering more so than usual.

_Of course,_ her mind said, _Hinata knew._

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tenten whispered.

"Neji-niisan a-asked me not to." the Hyuuga heiress confessed. "I-I couldn't tell you, e-every time I got really n-nervous, I'm sorry, Tenten."

Tenten glared at Ino and Sakura. "Why didn't _you two_ tell me?"

Ino shrugged. "You never asked."

"_Do I have to ask if it's something this important!?_" she shrieked.

"Calm down," the blonde replied while sighing deeply. "You know now and that's all that matters."

"Why didn't Neji tell me himself?" Tenten asked, looking specifically at Hinata.

"Y-you know how Neji-niisan is. He probably w-wanted to figure this all out on his own and to s-sort out his feelings." Hinata smiled ruefully at the brunette. "He hasn't stopped asking me about y-you ever since you guys had a f-falling out." Tenten's gaze faltered and she stared at the ground. "He's really in love with you, Tenten, but h-he just doesn't know what to do."

"Typical of a man not to know what to do with his feelings, even after five years." Ino growled. "Neji should just tell your father that he doesn't want to go through with the damn marriage and everything would be fine."

Hinata smiled sadly. "I-I think you forget what my father is really like sometimes . . ."

"I have to go." Tenten said suddenly, rising from her sitting position on the floor.

"Going to look for Neji?" Sakura handed Tenten her bag.

"Something like that."

XXXXX

Tenten did not in fact go to look for Neji. Instead, she returned to her apartment building and sat in front of her front door for an hour, thinking.

_Neji is marrying Temari._

_Neji is in an arranged marriage._

'_He's really in love with you, Tenten.'_

_Hyuuga Neji _loves_ me . . ._

"Neji was here looking for you." a voice suddenly said. Tenten looked up just as Naruto dropped down into a sitting position beside her, crashing into her and jostling her body sideways. "He was here a few hours ago, but he left when the teme told him you were out with your friends."

"Dobe."

"Stop calling me that, Sasuke-teme!" the blonde snapped, glaring at the dark haired boy leaning casually against the wall opposite them.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"You are childish."

"Takes one to know one!" Naruto retorted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That didn't even make sense."

"I'm surprised you two have been friends for so long." Tenten drawled.

"Hyuuga needed to talk to you and the matter seemed urgent." Sasuke said flatly. "He actually looked a little sick."

The brunette closed her eyes and asked, "What time is it?"

Naruto glanced at his watch. "Midnight."

Tenten thanked them both and ran off.

"Teme," Naruto scowled and glared at his best friend. "You're manipulating her so that things will end up how you predicted and then you'll win the bet . . ."

Sasuke smirked at him. "Hn."

XXXXX

Neji had been tempted to drink some sake, a bottle or two were bound to be in the kitchen cabinet somewhere, but he was smarter than that and knew from experience that he could not hold his liquor. So he drank water instead; a nice safe bet. He'd come back and found the house completely deserted, servants had gone home, and discovered a short note on the kitchen island from Hiashi stating that he was doing final preparations for tomorrow and about—this was unexpected—how _proud_ he was that he was willing to go through with this for the Hyuuga, how proud _Hizashi_ would be if he could see him now.

Neji swore he wouldn't cry anymore after the funeral but any mention of his father still brought a familiar pain into his chest.

There was a knock on the door, odd because it was after midnight, and he got up to answer it.

He opened the door.

He hadn't been expecting for Tenten to be there, nor for her to crash into him and forcefully press her lips against his.

Everything was happening so fast that Neji didn't know how to react and just stood still as a statue as Tenten removed her lips from his and leaned away from him.

"T—"

"_You're having an arranged marriage!?_" she screamed, pushing him back inside his own house and slamming the door shut behind her. "How could you not _tell_ me? Was _this_ the reason why you were pushing me away!?" she demanded.

_Yes, hello Tenten. No, that kiss was not at all awkward. Yes, why don't you come in . . ._

"How did you find out?" he asked icily.

"That's not the point, Neji." Tenten said, frustrated. "You should've told me, I mean, I could understand why you were pushing me away _now_, but," she frowned at him, "why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you marrying her?"

Neji stared at her for a long time before answering.

"It's for the Hyuuga," he replied, face blank, "because I owe Hiashi."

"You don't owe him anything!" she insisted. "He's your _uncle!_ You two are family and he'd understand—" Neji pressed a finger against her lips and she batted his hand away. "Don't try to shush me, Hyuuga Neji." she warned, eyes blazing. He was going to miss her. "Tell Hiashi you don't want to marry Temari—" Tenten's gaze faltered. "—If you don't want to marry Temari that is, but if you do . . . Then you don't have to say anything I guess . . . But tell him if you don't!"

"And what do you think Hiashi will say to that?" Neji asked. "Tell me it's alright and be done with it? You and I both know that would never happen." His cell phone rang and Neji muttered some curses under his breath as he checked the glowing screen and cursed even more as the name 'Gai' flashed across it. He put the phone back down and turned back to Tenten, but she was already at his door, hand on the knob. "Tenten—" he began, starting towards her.

"Neji." Tenten took in a long shuddering breath and whispered, "I didn't know I'd fallen in love with a coward."

Neji was left standing there, shell shocked, watching as she left. She loved him? _Him?_

Tenten.

Loved.

Him.

His phone rang again, a little more insistent this time, and he grudgingly picked up.

"What?" he growled into the phone.

"Neji," Gai began, "you have really screwed yourself this time. The woman you love just confessed her love for you, you unyouthful lout, why did you not reciprocate?"

The Hyuuga rolled his eyes. "I—"

"I'm going to tell her about our deal."

Neji gripped his cell phone tighter and said stonily, "No."

"I'm at her apartment already—" he said cheerily.

"_No_."

"Good-bye, Neji! I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

The line went dead.

Oh, how he loathed Death.

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"Gai-sensei?" Tenten stared at him, confused as to why he was standing outside her door so late. "What are you doing here?"

He grasped her hands and said, loudly, "Tenten! Beautiful, youthful flower! I must inform you of something which may determine the life of your love Hyuuga Neji!"

_Yeah . . ._ She gave him a small smile. "Do you want to come inside?"

XXXXX

"Temari, shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

"Shouldn't you be sleeping too?" she asked as Kankurou came to sit beside her on her bed.

"I'm not tired." he replied, running a hand through his wild brown hair. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The blonde snorted. "No, but I have to anyways."

"Gaara could take your place." Kankurou said, clapping his hands together and grinning as if it was the most brilliant plan in the world. "I'll go g—"

Temari rolled her eyes. "Gaara and _Neji?_ That's a disaster waiting to happen . . ." _Though_, her mind went into overdrive, _that would be pretty hot . . . No! Stop it! Focus!_

"B—"

"Are you two talking about me?"

Temari and Kankurou, both surprised, turned to their younger sibling and his frowning face.

"Gaara!" Temari cried, motioning him over to where they were. He sat on the bed slowly and Kankurou mussed his hair while Temari hooked her arm around his neck dragging him closer to them. Gaara rolled his eyes in annoyance at his older siblings antics. "Why are you up?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep." he replied flatly.

Kankurou was giving the red head odd looks. "How did you know we were talking about you?" he asked.

"I sneezed."

". . . Oh . . ."

(A/N: That Japanese legend where when you sneeze it means people are talking about you.)

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After pouring tea for herself and Gai she sat down and eyed him warily.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Tenten asked.

Gai sniffed the tea, jasmine, his favorite, and grinned. "This smells positively wonderful, Tenten!" he exclaimed, taking a large gulp and trying not to cry as it burned his tongue.

She chuckled a little, she couldn't help it, and smiled. Gai really was a good teacher and he was so positive that she felt herself feeling positive, happy, as well. "Seriously, Gai-sensei, what did you come here for?"

"Tenten," he was suddenly serious and she was surprised at his new demeanor, "this may shock you but I must tell you."

"Yes?"

"I hope you do not think badly of me after this. It shall be a gigantic shock, I'm sure. I will let you know now that I shall still be the youthful teacher I have always been and if you need to tell me anything I am here for you—"

"Gai-sensei," Tenten said, interrupting him. "It's ok. You'll still be a great teacher to me." She was suddenly embarrassed as Gai looked like he was about to cry. She took a sip of tea to have something to do.

"I am Death."

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A/N: Super long, totally boring, almost pointless (occassionally you need one of these), but it's setting the stage for the last chapters, two I think. From this chapter it's pretty obvious NaruHina's together, SasuSaku's pretty much there, InoShikaTem's still got some stuff to work out and NejiTen is just all over the place. I haven't really explained SasuSaku very much, they just suddenly got together, which kinda bothers me. Oh well. Please review!


	17. Wait

A/N: Chapter 17! Damn, we've come a long way and I still can't believe I've written such a long story. The power of NejiTen can make you do amazing things! I apologize for spelling/grammer mistakes. Enjoy!

Over a hundred of you have thise story on your favorites list and it makes me so happy!

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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Chapter 17

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Neji POV

_I hate Gai._

_I hate Gaara._

_I hate Gai._

_I hate Gaara._

_I hate Uchiha._

_I hate _me

_But I really hate Gai and Gaara._

XXXXX

Tenten wondered for a split second if her teacher was insane.

Like really screwed in the head.

What type of person went to their student's house, at 2 a.m., drank tea and said they were Death?

A crazy person, that's who.

Or Gai, but it seemed to Tenten that they sort of figured into the same mold.

"Gai-sensei," she said slowly, seriously, after swallowing her tea, "are you ok?"

"Of course I am!" he replied cheerily. "Couldn't be better! Wow, I'm glad I got that off my chest. I feel a lot better now about this whole arrangement."

Gai gave her a giant smile and she could swear that she heard a _ping!_ sound come off his teeth.

He was suddenly very somber and stared at her face, trying to gouge her reaction to his truly youthful, and truthful, declaration. They stared at each other for a moment, neither one blinking, until Tenten stared laughing a short, forced laugh.

"Gai-sensei," she moved her hand to her back pocket and began pulling out her cell phone, "you don't honestly expect me to believe you, do you?"

"Yes, I do." Gai smiled, then added, "And if you reach for that cell phone you'll be very sorry!"

Tenten stopped. _How did he know?_

Gai's eye brows rose up into his hair. "You want to know how I know?"

"How did you do that!?" she demanded.

"Do what?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"_Read my mind!_"

He simply looked at her, a slow smile spreading across his face. "You remember that Neji was in an accident a while back, correct?" She nodded; it had been one of the scariest days of her life. "Well, Neji-kun was supposed to die that day but instead he made a deal with me. Neji—"

Tenten was instantly on her feet, her chair knocked over, and she glared at him. "Stop!"

"—has to find his true love in order to keep on living but if he doesn't then he dies again."

"Neji never mentioned any of this!" she yelled, slamming her fist down on her coffee table. "Why should I believe you? You're lying to me! I'm tempted to call the police or something!" she threatened.

"Oh, Tenten, beautiful, youthful flower, if Neji hadn't even mentioned his arranged marriage to you, why would he mention something of this nature?" he asked, smiling.

He had her there, she knew _he_ knew she did, and Tenten shook her head.

"It's impossible. People can't come back from the dead—"

"And yet Neji-kun is alive today!" Gai exclaimed jovially. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"You're crazy." she said bluntly. "Stark raving mad."

"Didn't you say yourself that _anything_ can happen in a few weeks?"

"I wasn't talking about some crazy crap like _this!_"

"You were never very specific about what 'anything' entailed when you said that to Neji." he responded calmly.

"I don't even know if you're telling the truth! You're pulling my leg or something!"

"I certainly am _not_ pulling on your leg, that would be unyouthful, and I am not lying." Gai suddenly looked at her clock and then said happily, "Neji-kun will call you in a few seconds. Ask him yourself, see if I'm lying or not."

On cue her cell phone began to vibrate and Tenten sent Gai an alarmed look. She pulled it out fully from her pocket and bit her lip as Neji's name flashed on the small screen.

_How does he know all this? How can he see the future? How does he know what I'm thinking? How? How? How!?_

She flipped open the phone and said, "Neji."

There was silence on the other line until Neji asked, "Is _he_ with you?"

"Neji," Tenten whispered, "_please_ tell me you're in on this joke."

"How much has he told you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she screamed into the phone. "Gai-sensei's lying! He keeps telling me he's Death and that you made a freaking deal to come back from the dead and find your true love!"

". . . So he's told you pretty much everything."

"Neji!"

"I have business to attend to."

"_Neji! Wait!_" The line went dead and Tenten slowly closed her cell phone, gazing fearfully at Gai. "You're not really going to kill him, are you?"

"It would be unyouthful to go back on my word."

She let out a shuddering breath and tried to stop her hands from shaking. "I still don't believe you."

Gai sighed. "What would it take to convince you?" he asked. "If I . . ." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "if I . . ." Gai suddenly disappeared, she gasped, then reappeared holding a sharp knife. "If I stab myself and no blood flows, will you believe me then, oh, beautiful flower, Tenten?"

"Oh god, please don't—"

"Ready?"

"No, Gai-sensei, I believe you!" she yelled, watching in horror as the knife inched closer and closer to her teacher's green spandex covered arm. She screamed as the knife dug into Gai's skin and quickly yanked it back out of his arm and her eyes widened as, like he said, no blood flowed and as the skin seemed to knit itself back together seamlessly. Tenten let him go and stumbled back a few steps. "Oh my god . . ." she whispered.

Gai gazed at her and got teary eyed. "You were honestly worried about me? Tenten, oh beautiful, youthful flower!"

"_What the hell are you!?_" she demanded.

"Death." he said. Gai got a sad look on his face. "Weren't you listening?"

_Either he's telling me the truth or he's a freak robot, like those guys from the movie AI. Holy crap, I might have some top secret government project in my apartment right now. What if the police come? How the hell do I explain something like this?_

"A-are . . ." Tententried to keep the stutter out of her voice. "Are you an AI? Some top secret government project?"

He sighed. "You _weren't_ listening then—"

"N-no! I was listening!"

"Oh . . ." Gai now had a bright grin on his face. "Good! It's youthful to listen!"

She bit her lower lip. "So . . . Should I call you . . . Death?"

"No, Gai-sensei works."

"Ok." Tenten righted her chair and sat down, feeling awkward and fidgeting a little. She was suddenly feeling wary of her teacher, despite his wonderfully carefree attitude. How was she _supposed_ to react to this person who was going to drag her six feet under some day and said he was going to kill Neji . . . "Were you joking?" she asked, blurting out the question before she lost her nerve.

Gai stared at her, thoroughly confused. "Joking about what?"

"K-killing Neji." The thought brought bile to her throat and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. "You were joking, right?"

"Nope! Going back on my word would be unyouthful!" he answered, taking a sip of tea and smiling contentedly.

How could he be so calm and _happy?_

"G-Gai-sensei," Tenten said, voice deathly serious, "you can't do that. You _can't_ kill, Neji. He's my—I—"

"He failed to find his true love—actually, he did—but he failed to win her heart none the less!" Gai cried in a dramatic fashion, sighing deeply as Tenten fixed him with a confused expression. "Neji found _you!_ _You're_ _his true love and you dumped him!_"

She shook her head in denial. "Neji doesn't believe in love. It's a wasted emotion to him."

"He didn't believe till he found you!" Gai insisted, staring at her seriously with overwhelming intensity. "Neji certainly believes now. He is very much in love with you, Tenten."

"But we've been friends forever and he hasn't shown the least bit of interest in me till—this is stupid! He's only doing this because he'll _die_ if he doesn't!" Tenten crossed her arms over her chest and muttered, "Neji doesn't feel the same way I do . . ."

"Have you asked him?" Gai's voice was quiet as he smiled at her sadly.

"Gai-sensei, if I tell Neji I love him you won't kill him, right?" she asked, ignoring his question. Tenten sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "But he's marrying Temari and I'm going out with Gaara—he's such a great guy—what am I going to do?"

"Oh, there's more to Gaara than meets the eye." Gai murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Nothing! Oh, youthful flower Tenten! I must be going now but I'm sure things will work out somehow!" Gai rose from his chair and added, "You have till 10 p.m. tonight." He looked at her clock and gave her a thumbs up. "It's almost 5 a.m. now so you have a lot of time to think this over and his wedding isn't till 5 p.m. today. Think carefully, Tenten."

She nodded and bit her lower lip. "Goodbye, De—Gai-sensei."

He grinned. "And don't tell anyone!"

XXXXX

_Age 16_

_It was the crack of dawn, again, on Valentine's Day, she'd checked her calendar, and she was meeting Neji at the clearing. Their clearing. Ever since he'd given her that rose when they were thirteen, they'd decided to meet in this place every Valentine's Day because it was quiet and they could talk without being over heard. He always brought her flowers when they had these meetings, red roses, and she always buried her face into the blossoms and grinned at him._

_It was like their ritual and she never got tired of it._

_Tenten jumped down from her perch on the tree and landed with a muted thump in front of him. He wasn't startled in the least and instead cocked an eye brow at her childish antics._

'_We're sixteen now, shouldn't you have grown out of that?' he asked, voice monotonous._

'_I'm trying to prolong the inevitable.' she replied flippantly._

_Neji rolled his eyes. 'Here.'_

_She took the flowers, smiling, and then threw her arms around him. Whenever she received his gift it made her feel good, better than good, great even. Neji stumbled back a little from her enthusiasm but wrapped his arms around her nonetheless. He buried his face into her neck, the skin smooth against his cheek, and inhaled her smell. It was like jasmine and wind and rain._

She woke to the sound of fists pounding against her apartment door and people screaming her name at impossibly high decibels. Tenten groaned and rolled over, forgetting that she was on the couch and falling face first onto her living room floor.

"Shit." she muttered, rubbing her sore nose as she made her way to the door.

When she opened it the smiling faces of Ino and Sakura greeted her along with cries of 'dresses, wedding and makeup'.

Tenten slammed the door in their faces.

XXXXX

Neji looked at Hinata, eyes slightly widened in surprise at the younger Hyuuga's current dress, or lack thereof. She had on a towel, he hoped she was wearing something under it but with all the skin she was showing he highly doubted it, and her long blue-black hair was in a messy bun at the back of her head and her face was covered in a particularly nasty looking white goop.

Hinata smiled hesitantly. "I-it's cold cream. Ino's g-giving each of us a s-spa s-style makeover."

The blonde girl suddenly came racing down the stairs and came to halting stop at the foot of the stairs. "Hinata!" she said loudly. "Cucumbers!"

"R-right!"

There was a scream suddenly and all three teenagers looked in the direction of Hinata's room.

"When did Tenten get here?" Neji asked, voice chilly, wondering if she was alright.

"A few minutes ago," Ino answered, waving off the concern he showed momentarily in his face. "We dragged her here from her apartment. She was still sleeping when we came by and got really grouchy when we woke her up so I guess Sakura's having a bit of trouble putting cold cream on her." There was another scream and a loud crash. Neji wondered about the state of Hinata's room and the Hyuuga girl seemed to be having the same thoughts as her eyes widened in horror. Ino grinned. "Oh, it's fine! Come on, Hinata! We have to put those cucumbers over your eyes and paint your nails!"

Neji watched as the girls returned to their make shift spa and shook his head.

XXXXX

"I'm not in the mood for this!" Tenten growled, trying in vain to break out of her bindings. Sakura had used Hinata's bed sheets as rope and tied her arms behind her back. "I'm tired and I'm hungry so let me go!" She squirmed as Sakura none too gently pinned back her bangs and smeared white cream onto her face. "Holy crap! It's cold!" she cried.

"It's called 'cold cream' for a reason," the pink haired girl reminded her patiently. "Now hold still or I'm going to get this stuff into your hair." Sakura methodically spread cream over Tenten's face and smirked as the older girl glowered. "You can eat at the wedding or something. Maybe we'll stop by a café and pick up some muffins later."

Tenten mumbled something inappropriate and Sakura laughed as Ino and Hinata came into the room, a knife and a cucumber with them.

"Is the cucumber for me?" the brunette asked.

Ino scoffed. "No, it's for our eyes, idiot." She sliced off one end of the cucumber and then cut two semi-thin pieces, slapping them over Tenten's eyes. "Now be quiet and relax. _No_ complaining."

XXXXX

"What are you doing here?"

Naruto grinned, tugging at his very loose tie awkwardly. "It's hot out here, can we come in?" He's holding a bouquet of white lilies, Neji notes with a little hostility, obviously for Hinata.

Neji growls but pushes the door open wider so Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru can come in. All three of them wear suits, black, and they all look presentable. At least the wedding photos won't look like complete trash. Naruto immediately barrels into the kitchen and begins rummaging inside the freezer while the other two lean against the counters and the island.

"Where are the girls?" the blonde asks, sucking on a cherry Popsicle.

"Hinata's room." Neji replies absently, righting his tie. He didn't want to wear a bow tie and Temari agreed that the tie looked much better. "They're probably getting dressed."

"Still?" Naruto whined. "It's two in the afternoon! Your wedding's in three hours!"

As if he could forget.

Shikamaru smacked Naruto over the head while Sasuke gave him a slashing look.

The Nara coughed loudly over Naruto's pathetic whimpers and handed Neji a wrapped package. "This is from Kiba and Shino since they couldn't make it for the wedding. Chouji also says congratulations."

Neji took it, a little skeptical, and slowly unwrapped it. He opened the box, looked inside and promptly slammed it shut, blushing.

"What'd they get you?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eye brow.

"Hey! Neji! Let us see!" Naruto wrestled the box from Neji's forceful grasp. He opened it up and burst into fits of uncontrolled laughter. "H-holy _shit!_ They got you _condoms!?_"

Neji clenched his hands into fists to prevent himself from strangling Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke was stoic but Neji could swear that the corner of the Uchiha's mouth twitched.

"Who has condoms?" Sakura growled, her arms crossed over her chest. When no one answered she asked again, voice dangerous, "_Who has condoms?_"

Naruto hastily shoved the present back into Neji's arms and pointed to the Hyuuga. "He does!"

The pink haired girl clucked her tongue. "Just be careful about STDs, Neji."

Said Hyuuga blanched.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto's eyes roamed over her form, "you look _hot_ in your dress!" Both Neji and Sasuke scowled at him.

Sakura blushed. "Really? I think it might be a little too low—" She began tugging the front of her dress up but Sasuke went over and stilled her movements.

"It's fine." he said, lacing their fingers together. "You look great."

She was really blushing now and from behind Ino cooed while Hinata and Tenten grinned and took pictures with Ino's cell phone.

"Man, those fan girls are going to be out for your blood, fore head." Ino murmured while looking at the pictures. "I have to put these online . . ."

"Ino!" Sakura screamed.

"I'm just kidding!" the blonde said, snapping her cell phone shut with a grin. "Hi, Sasuke, Naruto," she hesitated for a second, ". . . Shikamaru."

Shikamaru nodded, then sighed. "I've got to get going now. I'll see you guys at the wedding." He was at the door quickly and about to walk out when Ino got her nerve.

"Shikamaru—"

He turned around. "What?"

The blonde girl groped for something to say, anything, but lost it. "Nothing. I'll see you later."

Everyone said good bye except Neji, who was currently transfixed by Tenten and the way her dress hugged her in all the right places. Unconsciously he found himself staring at her chest, the neckline of her dress was pretty low, and it took Naruto elbowing him in the side to make him stop. Neji glowered at the blonde but Naruto nodded his head in the direction of the door. The Hyuuga male turned his gaze there and found Gaara. Instantly, his mood turned black.

Tenten ran to the red head, it was difficult in high heels, and threw her arms around his neck.

Gaara wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked, pulling away so that she could see his face.

"Ino called me." he replied.

Neji sent the blonde female a dark look she didn't notice.

"Are you ready?" Gaara asked.

Tenten smiled and looked at everyone in the room, her eyes lingering for a second on Neji. "Yes, I'm ready. Let's go."

XXXXX

Sakura grabbed Ino's hand and forced the blonde into the bathroom. Hinata was left in the kitchen since she was a little preoccupied with Naruto and the beautiful flowers he brought her.

"What is _with_ you all of a sudden?" Sakura demanded. "You've never second-guessed yourself about a guy!"

"Just drop it, fore head." Ino replied, tired. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Do you know why Shikamaru started going out with Temari?" she asked suddenly.

"I don't c—"

"It's because she told him exactly how she felt and told him that they were going to go out! _Right to his face!_" Sakura said heatedly. "You have to do the same thing! Shikamaru is a lazy ass hole and he's not going to make the first move so you have to do it yourself!"

"I don't need a lecture from _you_." Ino snapped. "Just leave me the hell alone." She slammed the door of the bathroom open and stalked out, not even caring if she ruined her dress with her tears.

XXXXX

Neji gracefully fell into an open chair in the hall.

Only a few minutes till the wedding, he was supposed to be at the alter already but he was lagging, and he was strangely calm, resolute.

He didn't care anymore.

Tenten was with Gaara and he'd lost any chance with her.

He wanted to scream, but Hiashi was there talking to Baki.

Temari walked out of her room dressed in her white wedding gown. It was, if he remembered correctly, an elegant spaghetti strap caviar long slit front A-line wedding gown. At least, that's what it had said on the tag. He had to admit, Temari did look beautiful in the dress, but was thinking about another girl in a different white dress at the moment.

"You're supposed to be at the alter already!" she hissed, glaring.

"Hn." He opened one of the double doors that led into the church, they had gone for a western style wedding, and took a step out. His eyes immediately locked onto Tenten's brown ones. She smiled sadly and his heart lurched in his chest. Neji walked back into the hall and slammed the door shut to the expectant crowd.

Temari stared at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Baki and Hiashi were both staring at him with calm expressions.

'_I didn't know I'd fallen in love with a coward._'

_I didn't know I had become one,_ Neji thought.

"Hiashi, I can't do this."

XXXXX

A/N: This was L-O-N-G. And, finally, Neji has grown a pair! Please review?


	18. Looking For You

A/N: We have come to the end my friends, alas, we must part. This story has been a joy to write and reading all of your fantastic reviews has been one of the highlights of my summer and . . . stuff. Look at me, getting all sentimental and shit.

This chapter was a bitch to write, rewrote the damn thing 3 times so I hope it's good (took me 3 weeks to do so it better be.).

R.I.P. to that bomb loving psycho Deidara . . . Art is a bang.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

XXXXX

Chapter 18

XXXXX

"Are you alright?"

Tenten turned to Gaara in surprise, brows furrowed in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be alright?" she asked, giving a saccharine smile. Her mouth hurt from all the smiling she'd done. Maybe if she actually _felt_ happy it'd be easier . . .

He held up their clasped hands up. "You're squeezing really hard, Tenten."

She abruptly let go, blushing fiercely. "Oh, god," she said, closing her eyes as he massaged his fingers. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I didn't—"

"It's ok." he brushed her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand. "You look sad," Gaara said, studying her eyes intently. "Do you want to leave?"

Tenten stared at him, eyes wide. "You can't leave when your sister is getting married!" she insisted as he dragged her to her feet. "Gaara!" People were watching them and she felt a flush of embarrassment flood up her cheeks. "Gaara!" she cried, a little irritated now, but they were already walking out of the church through a side door near the back. The red head dragging her outside cast her an amused smirk when she tripped over a rock. "_This is your sister's_ _wedding!_"

One of Gaara's non-existent eyebrows cocked in a do-you-think-I-care look. "Temari won't mind," he said confidently. "That place was stuffy."

She let out an exasperated sigh but smiled.

XXXXX

His words echoed in the silent hall, all eyes were trained on him and Neji forced himself to meet his uncle's icy gaze. Hiashi's eyes were narrowed to slits and his lips were in a thin line, showing his evident displeasure. Baki was gaping and out of the corner of his eye, Neji could see Temari was smirking. Was she enjoying this? Perhaps she was since she'd be able to be with Shikamaru again.

"Hiashi-sama," Neji dropped to his knees in front of his uncle and, even thought it brought bile to the back of his throat, his voice was pleading. "Please don't make me marry, Temari." He'd never begged a day in his life, but it seemed to come naturally. Neji kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to look up at his uncle.

"Why?" Hiashi asked coldly. "This is for the betterment of Hyuuga."

Neji didn't know who to respond but thankfully Temari came to his rescue.

"_Gaara_ will probably be the one to inherit Sabaku," she explained. "Neji marrying me wouldn't make much difference in business matters."

The older Hyuuga ignored Temari. "Neji, do you want to have the company?"

"I wasn't aware that you were giving it to me." he answered honestly. "Hinata is your first-born."

"If you want to man my company after my retirement," Hiashi said, voice deathly serious, "you get to that alter and marry this girl."

Neji rose from the floor and brushed invisible dust from his black dress pants. He gave a respectful nod to Baki and Temari before looking at Hiashi. "I can't." he said.

Hiashi sighed deeply in a very un-Hyuuga-like manner, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "It's that Tenten girl, isn't it?" Hiashi asked, giving his nephew a stern look. "That girl is what's making you change your mind, correct?" Neji said nothing but it was enough to convince him he was right. Hiashi waved him away with displeasure and said sharply, voice cutting, "Leave."

"Thank you . . . Uncle."

XXXXX

_Wow, I never thought I'd be here again . . ._

Tenten looked around at the very pink interior, she had a feeling that Gaara was grimacing inside though his face was expressionless. The same blonde man she'd had when she and Neji came here was their waiter and the look of recognition on his face told her he remembered her.

"You seem to be known in this place." Gaara commented absently.

"Neji and I came here and he was our waiter." she replied flippantly before realizing what she was saying. Tenten slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide while Gaara's were passive. She hadn't meant to say that but the red head seemed unmoved.

"You and Neji?"

"It was a _long_ time ago."

"This place opened only a few months ago, Tenten." he reminded her, noticing how her cheeks reddened. "Were you and Neji an item before?"

She scoffed. "We were never _anything_."

"That's not what Lee says."

"You talk with _Lee?_" she asked incredulously. "_Rock Lee?_"

Gaara folded his hands and propped his chin up with them. "It is that surprising?"

"_Yes_." she answered bluntly.

"I see." he replied quietly.

"Not that I'm against it or anything." Tenten added hurriedly. "I just never expected you and Lee to be on such good terms, I mean, I thought you found him _annoying_."

Gaara shrugged. "He's tolerable."

"Look, Gaara, I'm _really_ sorry but—"

"You're breaking up with me." he stated flatly, giving her an amused look.

Tenten's eyes widened to saucers. "It's not you, it's _me!_" she cried, which only seemed to increase his amusement. "You are such a great guy and if I wasn't in love with some other guy I'd _totally_ continue dating you!"

"I'm sure." The red head gave her a look. "Why did you go out with me?"

She groaned. "I guess I was feeling down finding out that Neji didn't want me anymore. God, I feel like such an idiot! I'm _so_ sorry!" She was blabbering now. "I don't know why I said yes, well, besides the fact that you're such a great guy and stuff but I can't believe I was leading you on like this. I should've broken things off when Neji kissed me the other day—"

"He kissed you?" Gaara asked monotonously while Tenten buried her head into her hands. "And how long have you been in love with Hyuuga?" She didn't respond. "A while then." he surmised.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to _me_. God, Gaara, I'm sorry I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot."

He said it with such certainty that she actually found herself believing him for a minute. He was so nice about it that it made her want to cry. "I didn't envision such a good break up." Tenten admitted truthfully. "I thought there'd be screaming or something."

"I'm not a screamer."

Tenten found herself thinking of something entirely sexual when he said that and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "You made me think of something naughty." she confessed wryly when he stared at her in confusion.

"I see." he murmured. There was a moment of silence until Gaara said, "I was going to break up with you today."

XXXXX

Neji pushed open the door to the church and looked around for the familiar buns and white dress. His eyes scanned the crowd ten times before he realized she wasn't there. Where was she?

"Are you looking for Tenten?" Sasuke asked, turning around slightly to look at him. Sakura smiled beside the Uchiha and Neji could see that their hands were touching.

"Where is she, Uchiha?"

"Left with Gaara." he replied, short and to the point.

"Shit," he muttered, ignoring the fact that many people's eyes had gone wide at his improper language. Hyuuga were not known to curse. Neji frowned at the alter for a moment, debating what to do. "The wedding is off," he told the two, "you can leave if you want."

"You're not marrying Temari?" Sakura asked happily, practically bouncing in her seat. 

"No."

"That's fantastic!" she cried, getting out of the pew to hug him.

Neji watched as Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously and he smirked in response.

XXXXX

"You _were?_"

Gaara nodded.

"Well . . ." Tenten looked down at her clasped hands on the table, then back at Gaara. "I guess I beat you to it."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I suppose I should tell you why."

She grinned. "If you want to. I don't care."

"I'm gay." he confessed stoically.

XXXXX

Temari ripped off her veil with a contented sigh and walked out into room full of people. Baki had already announced that the wedding was off, to her intense relief, and guests were just milling around, drinking champagne and eating cocktail shrimp and miniature stuffed crab cakes. She looked around and immediately found the man she was looking for, his pineapple head was hard to miss. So was the blonde girl who was currently standing beside him.

"Shikamaru," she said, coming up beside the dark haired teen, "this is yours." Temari pressed a small manila envelope into his hand and he immediately seemed to know what it was. She smirked and smiled sweetly at the girl. "Ino."

"You look good." Ino said with a large smile. She wanted to rip the other girl's hair out.

Shikamaru could sense the tension between the two and sighed.

"I have a few things to take care of." Temari stated, brushing the side of her dress casually. "I'll see you guys later."

Ino clenched her teeth as Temari left, noticing the way the girl sashayed away. "Why did you go out with that girl?" she demanded, turning to Shikamaru.

He shrugged. "She was cool."

"That's not even a good answer!" the blonde hissed.

Shikamaru stared at her and said evenly, "You sound jealous."

"I am _not_ jealous." Ino snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I guess."

Silence ensued.

"What's in the envelope she gave you?"

He shrugged.

She clenched her teeth together in annoyance.

The dark haired boy nibbled on a piece of shrimp before he was roughly grabbed by his jacket and jerked around to face angry blue eyes. "I-Ino!"

"Do you like my dress?" she asked hotly.

"_What?_"

"Do you like it!? Do you think it makes me look sexy!?"

"What th—Ino let go!"

"Why won't you answer!?" she screeched.

"_Yes!_ It makes you look incredibly sexy." he said, relieved when she let go. Damn, women were so troublesome. Why the hell was she asking him about this? "Why the hell are you asking me this?"

"Do you like Temari?"

"_What?_"

"_Answer the damn question!_"

"That's none of your business." Shikamaru muttered, aware that all eyes were on them. Ino looked like she was close to tears and he wondered why. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled something close to 'psycho women' under his breath.

"Nothing is wrong."

"You're acting more psychotic than usual."

"I am _not_ psychotic."

"Whatever," he muttered, adding, "troublesome woman."

Ino couldn't take it anymore and screamed, "_You're such an ass hole, Shikamaru! Can't you tell that I like you!?_"

XXXXX

He'd visited nearly every place he could think of searching for Tenten but to no avail.

The girl was no where to be found.

How could she disappear like this?

It was damn irritating.

Neji ran down the street, black jacket flapping behind him and suddenly stopped when he saw the familiar pink building.

She wouldn't be here . . . Would she?

XXXXX

"You're _gay!?_" Gaara motioned for her to sit down and she did, not even realizing that she'd stood up in the first place. "You _can't _ be!"

He found her reaction quite amusing and the look on her face was priceless. "I assure you I am." he replied, mouth slightly turned up in a smile. "I thought the overuse of eyeliner would tip you off."

"B-but—I—you went out with me!" Tenten said, pointing at him with her index finger. "You _kissed_ me! A lot!"

"I may be gay but you are a good kisser."

"I don't know whether to thank you or punch you." Tenten leaned back into her seat, slightly dazed.

Holy crap this was a revelation.

'_Oh, there's more to Gaara than meets the eye._'

No way. Was _this_ what Gai had been hinting towards?

That stupid idiot. He'd known all along and yet didn't say anything? If he came around her apartment again she's pour salt in his tea perhaps . . .

"I should get going," Gaara said, getting up from the booth.

Tenten placed her hand on top of his as he put down some money. "Gaara," she said, giving him a smile, "thank you. I had a lot of fun with you these past few weeks." She stood up a little and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. Gaara tentatively returned the gesture and Tenten smiled into his flaming red hair.

XXXXX

Neji's eyes widened when the back of Gaara's head popped out of a booth and when Tenten suddenly hugged him. _Tenten was hugging him. His_ Tenten. _His_ girl. Neji could swear he was seeing red as he busted through the door and roughly wrenched Gaara away from her.

"N-Neji!" she exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

Neji growled and narrowed his eyes at Gaara. "Don't touch her."

The red head raised an eye brow but didn't comment.

"What is your _problem?_" Tenten demanded. "Let go of him now!"

He did.

And then he grasped Tenten by her shoulders and kissed her.

Neji woke up when light sprinkles of rain hit his cheek. He was slightly disoriented and blinked rapidly to clear his blurry vision.

He'd left Café Aka Tsuki after witnessing that hug, wandering aimlessly till he found himself back at the park he and Tenten had come to when she wanted crepe. He'd crashed on a bench, intent on only resting a little but he ended up falling asleep. It was dark out and he vaguely wondered how long he'd been sleeping.

He'd screwed up.

Tenten loved another man.

Death was coming for him.

It couldn't get any worse.

And then the sky opened up.

Life sucked.

XXXXX

"Where's Neji!?" she asked, gasping for breath. She'd run all the way back to the church in high heels, it wasn't easy, and she leaned against a chair, pressing her forehead against the cold metal arm. "I need to talk to him!"

Sakura looked around to Naruto and Sasuke.

All of them shrugged and/or shook their heads.

"We don't know where he is either." she replied, watching as the brunette's expression turned from tired to horrified. "What's wrong?"

Tenten turned her head to the left and wasn't surprised when Gai was there, tapping a finger on the watch he wore.

"I have to find him and tell him something—"

"It's _pouring_ outside!" Naruto noted grimly, looking out the giant window. "Are you sure you want t—Tenten?"

"Ran out while you were talking, dobe." Sasuke said, staring intently at the open side door.

The blonde scowled. "Crazy girl."

XXXXX

Gai watched Tenten run out, smiling to himself before he left too.

Oh how he loved playing matchmaker.

Killing people all the time was just so boring.

XXXXX

"I-is Neji-niisan really not inheriting the company? Father?" Hinata pressed her index fingers together shyly, flinching at Hiashi's cold glare.

"You and Hanabi certainly don't have the capability." he said. "It will have to be Neji."

"C-can't you be a little e-easier on h-him? N-Neji-niisan does everything he can to please you, father . . . Y-you've always said he was the most t-talented and I-I t-think Hyuuga would do very well under h-his leadership, w-with or without Sabaku . . ."

Hiashi looked away from his eldest daughter, wondering when she'd gotten so talkative . . . And right. "Do you want to own the company?" he asked, staring at Hinata.

"Y-you said so yourself t-that I don't have the c-capability." she answered shyly.

"I'm beginning to think otherwise." Hiashi said. "Go back to your friends."

Hinata smiled.

XXXXX

Shock was written all over his face and Shikamaru gaped at her, at a loss for words.

"I like you, you idiot!" she cried, swiping her hand over her eyes. "They say you're a genius but you're so _stupid!_ Couldn't you tell!?"

"_No_. How can I tell that you like me when all you do is play games with me!?" he asked furiously.

"I was _flirting!_ It works with every other guy I've ever tried it on! I wore my sexiest outfits for you but you never noticed you ungrateful jerk!"

"What the hell!? You were that stuff everyday, Ino!"

"_You're the damn genius here!_ Can't you tell the difference between wearing a regular shirt and a _tight, form-fitting one that shows off skin!?_" she screamed.

Shikamaru clenched his fists. "God dammit woman! How the hell am I supposed to know these things!?"

"You're an ass hole, Shikamaru." Ino said resolutely, shaking her head.

He threw up his hands. "This is _exactly_ what I was telling you about. I don't like when you women play mind games. It's so damn irritating. Just come right out and say it, Ino."

"_Fine_." she snapped loudly. "I LIKE YOU SHIKAMARU AND I WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU."

To her utter surprise, he kissed her.

On the mouth.

Ino wrenched herself away from him and his delicious kiss, eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing!?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'd think you'd _want_ me to kiss you, Ino."

"D-don't you like Temari?" she asked, slightly bewildered.

"Did I ever say that?"

"No . . . but—"

"We went out before, but there's nothing between us now." Shikamaru said, crossing his arms. "You know I've liked you for a while, right?" She simply stared at him in shock and he snorted. "And you say _I'm_ the oblivious one. Troublesome woman . . ."

"Are you serious?"

He shrugged. "You were going out with Sai at the time and then Temari asked me out so I figured I'd give it a try."

"You _figured_ you'd give it a try!?"

"We weren't going out then so don't tell me it wasn't alright." he snapped.

Ino's eyes widened. "Are we going out _now?_" she asked.

Shikamaru brushed her hair out of her face and kissed the side of her mouth softly before whispering into her ear, "What do you think?"

She put a hand between her mouth and his when he tried to kiss her. "What's in the envelope, Shikamaru?"

He rolled his eyes. "I won the bet."

XXXXX

"I knew I'd find you here."

Neji turned his head slightly.

He'd never seen her in such a state. Tenten's bangs stuck to her forehead, she was soaking wet, her white dress hugged her like second skin and since it was white it was slightly see through; he could see the outline of her bra. She was breathing hard, chest visibly rising and falling, and she tired moved towards him, collapsing onto the bench beside him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked through the pounding rain.

She grinned good naturedly. "I was looking for you, Neji. You're missing your own wedding."

"You're soaked." He felt stupid for stating the obvious, but he was just surprised that she was sitting there.

"Rain." Tenten replied, brushing some of his hair away from his face. "You're the biggest idiot, you know that?"

"Hn."

"I'm serious, Neji."

"You're the one who's out in the rain. Love me that much?"

She smirked. "You sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet. Here I thought you were going to wrap your arms around me and kiss me senseless."

"Optimistic." he replied sarcastically.

"Do you love me?" Tenten asked seriously.

"I would've married Temari if I didn't."

The brunette girl smiled and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him hard. She suddenly realized she was crying, tears mixing with the rain. Tenten sobbed into his neck and Neji encircled her waist with his arms, holding her close. She pulled back and kissed him, closing her eyes while he explored her mouth with his tongue.

"You know," Tenten murmured against his lips, "if you'd told me about this marriage thing from the very beginning, plus the Death business, we could've been together from the start. Your stubbornness is going to be one of your shortcomings . . ."

Neji rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the fact that he could see Tenten's breasts quite easily through the dress she was wearing. "Hn."

She grinned and brushed her lips against his ear. "I love you, Neji." she whispered, causing him to shiver.

He brushed it off as coming from the cold rather than her effect on him.

"Neji?"

"Hn."

"Don't you have something to say to me?"

"No."

Tenten narrowed her eyes at him and said darkly, "Neji . . ."

"Don't make me say it."

"Do it."

"No."

"Say it right now Hyuuga Neji or I'm walking away from this bench."

". . . I love you."

XXXXX

A/N: Thanks for reading and please review.

Good god, what a lame ending. I don't know how to end a story and there was so much crap to tie up . . . I don't know how the professionals manage.


End file.
